Spark of Snark
by ShiraNation
Summary: College, Naomi, Emily, as well as the rest of the Skins Gen Two cast: it all adds up to your classic and very sarcastic Naomily tale - enough to spark your interest. You can expect comedy and plenty of snarky attitudes in this one. Will they fall in love? Read on.
1. Chapter 1: Equally Matched

**Simple summary:** we've got college, we've got Naomi, we've got Emily, as well as the rest of the Skins Gen Two cast - it all adds up to your classic and very sarcastic _Naomily_ tale - perhaps enough to _spark_ your interest. You can expect comedy and plenty of snarky attitudes in this one - the ol' push and pull of their relationship. On that note, I'll let the story do the rest of the explaining. Off you go...

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! How are you? I'm back with a new story as promised - one I fully intend to finish. I have over 40 pages at the moment, so there's hope! I'll start you off with a long chapter, yes? If you're wary of math, I apologize. This is the only chapter that will reference it, purely for comedic purposes. Don't worry I won't make you think, haha. Besides, who can hate math when Naomi and Emily are involved...

Chapter One: Equally Matched

**"In the first box enter the constant that should be added to the binomial so that it becomes a perfect square trinomial. In the box on the right-hand side enter the binomial that when squared, equals the trinomial on the left-hand side. There is only one possible correct answer for each blank..."**

_What...? One more time, maybe._

**"In the first box enter the constant that should be added to the binomial so that it becomes a perfect square trinomial. In the box on the right-hand side enter the binomial that when squared, equals the trinomial on the left-hand side. There is only one possible correct answer for each blank."**

_Fucking hell. Eight? Twenty-four? I don't fucking understand this. Did they even teach this in the lecture? God, there's not even a slight chance I'm going to pass this damn exam. _Frustrated, Emily dropped her pencil into the middle fold of the textbook in her lap. She leaned back, taking consolation in the old couch cushions. She momentarily glanced around the room, before allowing the burdening pressure of passing her exams to draw her back into university algebra. Just as she was about to try reading again, a studious blonde in the corner caught her attention. She watched the girl punch numbers into a graphing calculator and smile triumphantly at what Emily figured was probably the correct solution. Emily sighed hopelessly. Whether it was a sigh relevant to her maths or something else... _I wonder if we are in the same maths course. She doesn't look that familiar, does she? Then again, I haven't actually been to a maths lecture in ages. _

Striking, gorgeous blue eyes stared back into Emily's tired brown ones, "Can I help you with something?" the girl snidely questioned. _Fuck, I must be staring at her like a total dork. _Emily shrugged uselessly and whispered an apology, unsure if her voice was actually loud enough to be heard. Even more hopelessly than before, she sighed again and attempted to hide her embarrassment by delving her focus back into her notes. Not that she actually had many decent notes; they were closer to an accumulation of messy scribbles from random students she had managed to copy from.

**"In the first box enter the constant that should be added to the binomial so that it becomes a perfect square trinomial." **

_What ever happened to simple addition? I'm going to be stuck on this problem all night if I don't get someone to help me. I bet Blue-eyes will finish studying before that even happens. _Emily briefly looked across the room, long enough to see Blue-eyes turn a page. She quickly looked away to avoid getting caught a second time like a total creep. _Focus, Emily... _

**"In the box on the right-hand side enter the binomial that when squared, equals the trinomial on the left-hand side."**

_How am I supposed to figure out a trinomial if I don't get binomials? Seriously, maths should be left to the people who like it. JJ would be able to figure this out; he loves his numbers. Maybe Blue-eyes likes maths too. Fucking hell, maybe if she would stop smiling to herself like she's a fucking genius then she wouldn't have caught me staring at her. I bet she has no friends and just studies all day to be so smart. Must be shit. Friendless. Sucks to be her. _Emily looked at her scribbled notes. _Sucks to be me._

A few minutes slowly passed. Emily chanced another look. She found herself biting back a smile, strangely enjoying the sight of the blonde's eyebrows sharply slanting downward, nose scrunched, all while the blonde chewed her lower lip in deep concentration. _Not so easy, is it now? _Emily flipped the page of her own textbook to a more challenging problem, wondering if they were looking at the same one now. _Fuck. You're joking right? _Emily was shocked once again into acknowledgement that her failure was inevitable. Problem was, she literally could not afford to fail the class; if she failed any of her courses she would lose her scholarship. Frustrated, she slammed her book shut, shoved it in her patchy red backpack, and threw the straps over her shoulders.

"Where are _you_ going, stalker?" Emily turned away from the door she had begun storming off through to see now _she_ was being watched. For a second she thought she heard sadness or maybe genuine interest in Blue-eyes' voice but then remembered the girl had been rude to her before. _Did she just call me a stalker?_

"I'm sorry, judging by your attitude you seem like the_ last_ person my whereabouts would make a difference to," Emily snarled, "and for the record, I've never seen you before, so the conceited idea that I'm stalking you is ridiculous." She leaned against the open door with one foot in and one foot out of the room, prepared to leave. They were the only ones in the basement lounge; there was no crowd to encourage, or discourage her, really, from returning the unnecessary unfriendly attitude, just her conscience that currently, was mocking her.

Ignoring the first thing Emily said in regard to her demeanor, the blonde put down her pencil and challenged her, "Isn't that the idea behind stalking? Not knowing someone but staring at them as if it would reveal something personal?" Blue-eyes confidently smirked.

"I looked at you once. I was spaced out. Honey, your body's not that special," Emily did a dramatic once-over that caused the blonde cheeks to redden, "I have no reason to stalk you." Emily sighed. _Why am I even bothering?_

"Oh but you _do_ know me, you know, at least, superficially."

_Whoa, are you actually angry? What the fuck are you on about? Mental, maybe. _"Sorry?"

"Yeah, you've been staring at me every maths lecture you've been to. Maybe if you looked at my face instead of my tits once in a while you would know I caught you the first time you stared at me, quite a few lectures ago," _Ahh, annoyed. _Shifting uncomfortably, Emily's gaze lowered from the intense, confrontational glare until she saw the brown notebook she had previously been familiarized with on the table in front of the blonde. Suddenly, all the memories clicked and Emily laughed. _Oh fuck, you're right. _"What?" The blonde was not clued into Emily's realization.

"I wasn't staring at you, I was co-," Emily hesitated to admit she had not even asked to copy them for a moment,"-I was actually trying to copy your notes."

Blue-eyes quickly blushed, completely embarrassed by the counterargument that was much more logical than her presumptuous one. She was not even sure why she thought a girl would be consistently checking her out anyway, and felt silly thinking about it further. All Blue-eyes could manage was repetition, "What?" She feigned confusion, buying herself time for figuring out a way to come out on top or at least hide her own stupidity.

"See for yourself," Emily shrugged off one shoulder strap of her backpack so it slid in front of her chest enough to pull out her maths notebook. She flipped it open to a specific page of scribbled notes and handed it to Blue-eyes, remembering the last time she went to class.

_Emily had been mindlessly doodling stick figures, butterflies, and giant monkeys across the page, when the sound of chalk against the board was accompanied by the boring voice of the course instructor. She turned her notebook to a clean page and tried to copy down what he was writing, but could not simultaneously pay attention enough to understand the information actually being taught._

_After a while she started doodling again, until she decided she should at least have notes to attempt to teach herself the maths later. She nearly panicked when the instructor erased the board to move onto the next topic since she had not finished copying it. Her brown eyes searched the room to see if anyone else had been struggling but nearly everyone else seemed careless or focused. The people right beside her were texting or protectively blocking their notes as if it were an exam when she tried looking. The blonde a row down and slightly to the left seemed more focused than anyone - doing the problems on her own as the instructor was teaching them. It was actually rather perfect; the way the blonde was left-handed and leaned to her left as she wrote gave Emily a perfect view of the blonde's notes. Anytime she went to the maths lecture from then on, Emily made sure to sit behind the blonde's regular spot. In fact, at first Emily had only skipped if someone had taken her spot with the perfect view. _

_After a few weeks, still before the first exam, Emily noticed something new about the notes she was copying from. In the top right corner was the writer's name, "Naomi." Emily had subconsciously written it down while hurriedly copying the notes down in her own notebook. She quietly laughed at herself for making the silly mistake but did not bother erasing the other girl's name from her own page. Several days later she started to feel guilty. Now that the notes were labeled she felt like she was stealing any time she copied them. The impersonality of copying had made it okay to do so, but now she felt the need to ask permission. There was not a chance she would ask to copy from the blonde because that meant explaining she had been obnoxiously copying her notes for a while without having asked. Emily felt she would feel silly and stupid explaining to the girl that now that she knew her name, she felt like she had to ask permission. Was that normal? Emily didn't know. It was easier to just avoid the situation and not go to class._

"So not a stalker, just a thief," the blonde scoffed after flipping through a few pages. Emily had not only copied the problems, but all her personal side-notes - notes Naomi worked hard to come up with _instead_ of simply stealing them from another student, that helped her find the solutions.

"Right," Emily took the notebook back; before the blonde could, in her anger, do something terrible to it, "sorry about that. I wanted to tell you but..."

"But you're a coward," the blonde grunted, "a coward and a thief," Naomi hated the idea of someone taking advantage of her, or "advantage of her stuff" without asking. Not that she honestly thought she would have shared them if Emily had asked. She was not one for any type of social interactions; after all, sharing something might be taken as a friendly gesture, which would lead to friendship, which would lead to obligations, which would interfere with her academics - something Naomi never allowed. She had managed without new friends up until now, so why risk changing? Which is exactly the reason why she was being such a bitch to Emily.

"Right then, I'll be off now, thanks _Naomi." _Emily shoved the notebook in her backpack and was throwing the strap back over her shoulder, about to exit.

"Wait!" The blonde chewed her lip indecisively, "I, um, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Emily was incredibly confused now; Naomi was acting incredibly hot and cold - completely unpredictable. She could not figure out exactly what Naomi was interested in, making Emily very uncomfortable with her decision to withhold from abruptly leaving.

"Yeah," Naomi looked away uncertainly, "for being a bit harsh." She knew she had been more than just "a bit harsh," but she was not willing to sacrifice her own pride more than she already had, and admit it.

Emily smiled for a second before eyeing the blonde suspiciously, "What's the catch?"

"What you don't think I can apologize without an agenda?" Naomi had genuinely apologized but she could not control her sarcasm or general habit of reverting to bitchiness when feeling defensive.

Leaning against the door again, Emily bluntly answered, "No," defiantly folding her arms over her chest.

"Fine." Defeated, Naomi dramatically released a heavy sigh out of the side of her mouth, a few strands of hair momentarily lifted from against her pale skin and off her blue eyes, "My notes were ruined in the rain, and now, your copy is the only version left. I've been working endlessly trying to get these problems done without them; it's nearly impossible, I can't remember any of my side-notes."

"Thought so," referring to the catch in Naomi's apology, it was Emily's turn to smirk triumphantly, "so you want to borrow mine?"

"They're not really _yours."_

"They arein _my_ bag in _my _notebook, which I can leave with right now. As a matter of fact, I think I'm supposed to be meeti-"

"Jesus Christ! Can I please just borrow your fucking notes?" Naomi looked thoroughly pissed, causing Emily to laugh a little. She was starting to enjoy this girl's temper quite a bit.

"Well, since you asked_ so_ nicely, I think we can come to some sort of arrangement."

"Arrangement?" Naomi panicked, praying this was not going to cause her any more trouble than it already had. She was not sure if tolerating, let alone making any sort of arrangement with this annoying girl, was worth passing the first maths exam. Definitely _not_ worth the odd thoughts she felt when Emily had genuinely smiled or laughed. She prepared to change her mind.

"You stop being mean and I'll share the notes with you."

Naomi let out a sigh of relief, "alright," nothing too crazy. Surely sharing could not be _that_ bad. She assumed she could control their interactions so there would be no mixed messages - no friendship. She waited for Emily to hand her the notes for her turn with them, and instead watched the brunette walk back to the couch that she had originally been sitting on, behind her, "what are you doing?"

"The couch is much comfier," Emily said as though it were obvious.

"But all my stuff is here," Naomi did _not _want to move.

"And?"

Naomi recited a mantra to not be mean to this girl, even if she knew she was being provoked. Not because she liked Emily, or her bravery to challenge Naomi and not back down like most usually did, but because that was the only condition for the notes. It was almost like it was a contest whether or not the girl could get a rise out of Naomi, and Naomi refused to keep losing. She reminded herself that not being mean did not mean she had to be friendly. So the blonde neatly gathered her stuff from the isolated study-table and repositioned to sit beside the brunette.

The notebook was open on the cushions, separating them. Naomi's sore arse was secretly appreciating the difference between the couch cushions and hard stool she had already studied on for several hours. She opened her textbook and started to work in silence, ignoring the warmth she felt on her neck under the brown-eyed stare. After a while, Naomi accepted she could not concentrate and ignore Emily. She ended up raising her voice, "What?!"

"Truce?"

Five slender fingers were raised in her direction, catching Naomi off guard, allowing an unsettling feeling to erupt within her stomach. She looked up to see (an adorable) sincere smile change into one of confusion. She realized she had been looking at her dumbfounded, as if she had never seen a hand before. Clearing her throat in discomfort, Naomi felt obligated to quickly shake it, reminding herself to be gentle and chastising herself for noticing how soft the other girl's skin felt, "Um, yeah. Sure. Truce." We could be acquaintances, she thought, it's a lot of extra effort to be mean anyway - effort I should be putting into my work...

Satisfied, Emily pulled out the rest of her maths materials and started to work. It did not take long for a grimace to reappear on her face, the dislike exuding off her presence directed toward the textbook. She sighed. Sighed again. Flipped a page. Then sighed again.

Naomi rolled her eyes; _someone _was obviously trying to get her attention. She decided to comply because she had managed to get a few problems done in the nice hour or so of silence. "What's wrong?"

"I hate maths." Emily glared at her maths book as if it would come to life and cower away.

"It's not as if the rest of us like it," Naomi said. She had reasoned ages ago that whether or not you liked something was often irrelevant to whether or not you had to do it. At least, that was what helped her get past the stupidity of the most frustrating equations. Really, she had only acknowledged that piece of information _after_ her Mum unhelpfully informed her during one particular poor evening that throwing her textbook through a second-story window into the carnation garden was not going to make it any less horrible.

"Yeah, well, we shouldn't have to take it then."

In a low voice, Naomi mimicked their maths instructor's frequent answer to frustrated students; "Oh, but maths is relevant to _everything _in life; without it we wouldn't be able to do anything, anything at all," while slowly raising her hands as if enlightened. Emily chuckled and Naomi laughed at herself a little too.

When the laughing stopped, Emily asked, "Nothing at all?"

Naomi responded in character, "No, nothing at all, Miss uh...?" she realized she didn't know the brunette's name.

"Fitch. Emily Fitch."

"Right, yes. Without maths we wouldn't be able to eat food or take naps-things _I _clearly must do far too often because I definitely don't have any time for hygienic practices." Their professor smelled so bad that most avoided the front row like they would suffer a fatality. "That's right, maths is like lifestyle, see, you can't let nothin' get in the way. It's the _only_ lifestyle, really. You can't say you've truly lived without knowing how many spiders Mr. Potts has if he starts with five and kills three, ignoring the fact that the other two could have died of natural causes, which really means the world isn't as black and white as maths makes it. That's why you must study for your first exam, no matter how frustrating, if you want to live right, Miss... Fitch." Naomi tried to hold a straight face during the seconds of silence between them but they simultaneously burst out laughing. Aside from the whole rant and genuine encouragement at the end of it, Naomi's voice impression was obviously terrible and ridiculous, sending them deeper into their fits of laughter.

Naomi felt light, almost like she was floating when Emily laughed. She wondered if she was actually funny or if she had just been laughed at. Her impression was unrehearsed, making her slightly self-conscious. As the laughter subsided, so did her ease. Fortunately, Emily was quick to distract her from old insecurities, "So... what _do_ you like?"

Naomi realized she was starting to lose control over the social interaction. She was beginning to feel nervous about how conflicted she felt, sharing personal things. For fuck's sake, she now knew the girl's name and told a joke - completely out of character for her and unacceptable. "I like writing," she kept her answer brief.

But Emily did not plan on allowing Naomi's serious and distant tone to take over the mood. She probed further, "Yeah? What kind of writing?"

"Boring stuff." Firm, but unsuccessful.

_Hot and cold again, eh? _"I don't think it would be boring, if you let me read it."

"How would you know?" Almost, Naomi thought, just stand your ground and she'll give up-you're stronger than her. Naomi prided herself on her ability to be so easily intimidating.

"I don't, but..."

"But?"

"Nothing," Emily voice grew quiet again. _Fine then._

The silence grew awkward and they both returned to reading their textbooks. Naomi was unsure if she was victorious. She tried to busy herself with equations, quieting the rebellious emotions that wondered whether she had hurt Emily. She peeked at the brunette through the corner of her eye, slightly amused that now _she_ was the one doing all the looking. Naomi quickly returned to looking at her textbook when her annoying thoughts were confirmed; Emily had looked defeated. After only the few hours Naomi had known the girl, she already felt she could assume it was unnatural how ingrained in maths Emily seemed. It had been nearly thirty difficult minutes of this... whatever _this _was.

Naomi habitually cleared her throat and daringly broke the silence, "I like journalism..." She looked to Emily who had put down her pencil and was looking at her curiously, "I'm a very passionate feminist and liberal activist. I write about public injustice and inspiring protestors."

"Sounds interesting." Emily smiled brightly.

Naomi smiled too. The way Emily had said it was genuine - _not_ like she had intended to emphasize Naomi's inexplicable mean behavior before - her insistence that her writing was boring until the brunette dropped it entirely. Now was her chance to sort of apologize without apologizing, not that she consciously knew why she was doing so. "Thanks," she cleared her throat and turned her body slightly more towards Emily. "So, um, what do_ you _like?"

"Well, aside from _loving_ maths, I enjoy painting and photography. I also love animals a lot, but I think it would be a lot easier to just get a puppy and a kitten instead of becoming a zoologist, picking up elephant shit," she chuckled. Naomi really,_ really_ liked her laugh, returning an unrestrained smile for the first time.

"You know you would still have to pick up shit if you got a puppy and kitten?" The blonde smirked.

"Yeah, but they would make up for it by being all cute and stuff."

"They're not tiny forever, you know."

"You sound like you have a grudge against cute, cuddly, little animals."

"Yes, well maybe if I hadn't been chased by a pack of the horrendous creatures you call cute and cuddly then I wouldn't sound like I have a very, _very_ _valid _grudge against them." Naomi knew she was exaggerating, just a bit, but remained adamant about her opinion.

"I bet it was hardly as awful as you're making it sound," Emily challenged. She was interested in hearing the elaborated version of the story. The blonde fell right into her trap, so to speak, happy to exaggerate her story further.

"It started out as a bright and shiny day... I felt like I could conquer the world," Naomi started.

"Wow, is this going to be a novel, Miss Journalist?" Emily laughed.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Naomi feigned annoyance even though she did not actually mind Emily's teasing. "Besides, novelists and journalists are very different types of writers, _Miss Impatient. _If you don't want to listen to the full story without interrupting and objecting, then I won't tell it."

"Alright, alright, I'll keep quiet," Emily was after all, very curious and already entertained by the girl's extreme opinion on her favorite pets.

"Very good," Naomi said amusedly, as if Emily were an over-excitable child promising to be patient and calm until she finished.

"As I was saying... it started out as a glorious morning. I had eaten breakfast, something I rarely do, even though I believe in its healthy benefits." She was going to draw out this story - make it super climatic, knowing her ending was anything but legitimately serious. "I had said goodbye to my Mum when the day began to turn for the worse. I stepped out the door and realized I had accidentally left my bike out in the rain the night before. The sun had not dried the seat out and I don't like public transportation-frankly, I don't know many who do; the people that use it are often smelly, rude, drunk, or a combination of the three-" Emily opened her mouth to likely object to Naomi's intentional irrelevance and provocation, but Emily knowingly closed her mouth when Naomi smirked and continued, "leaving me with no other choice but to walk to college. I rarely walked to college then because it was a ten-minute walk and I had calculated that I could allow myself five minutes of extra sleep if I took the bike instead."

Naomi could tell Emily was withholding laughter at how ridiculous her sidetracking was becoming. Naomi wanted to keep talking forever if it meant Emily would keep smiling so cutely. Keep her silent, _not _cute_; _Naomi's mind corrected the unwanted thought. "Meaning, I had not allowed myself the extra five minutes I needed to walk because I had intended to bike, so I was going to be late... As I began my walk I noticed there was construction on my usual route, probably because the weather was nice, no longer the usual - rainy and total shit.

With the _wonderfully convenient_ construction going on, I needed to change my usual route, expecting an additional five minutes of lateness. I half-walked-half-ran through the residential area, ignoring the _judgmental_ stares from the elderly neighbors - they always thought anything youthful was off to have a dick wedged between their legs, which is rather ironic after some of the things I accidentally stumbled upon during one desperate summer job, but that's a story for another time... so half-walking-half-running, I figured I could decrease my tardiness by cutting through someone's yard. Little did I know there was a pack of treacherous creatures waiting just behind the backyard fence, practically waiting to kill m-"

Emily could not stop herself, "And exactly what kind of _creatures _were they?"

"Ignoring your interruption, I'd suppose they were dogs. S-"

"What kind of dogs?"

"I don't know, does it matter?"

"Of course."

"Well, if you want to be all technical, they were some kind of hound."

"Bloodhound?"

"Oh god no! Those sound dreadful. It's even in their name, Emily! I hardly imagine a _blood_hound could be friendly _even_ if it were tiny. I think they were, uh... basset hounds."

"Naomi, you do realize you could easily outrun a basset hound. They have tiny legs and big bodies. You're like a motherfucking cheetah compared to one."

"Yes, well maybe I heard the owner wrong or my head was already acting up after I told him off for keeping his dogs off leashes, _after_ they had chased me into a wall hard enough to get a debatably mild, serious, seriously mild, err, mildly serious concussion."

"In_ his _own backyard."

"What? Well, I hardly imagine he would put his dogs in someone _else's_ backyard. That would be bizarre," Naomi answered, as if she did not know what Emily was pointing out or that she herself was the bizarre one at the moment.

"They shouldn't have to be on leashes in their owner's backyard - they were fenced in! And you probably shouldn't have been in his yard in the first place," Emily laughed at the absurdity and the image of a flustered Naomi in the presence of adorable basset hounds.

"Yeah, but there were like, two of them! They could have easily piled up and jumped the fence. Pure, malicious intent has no restraint! Honestly, it just shows irresponsibility on his part; I should have called the Humane Society on him, showing no consideration or regard for their potential danger against the innocent likes of me, or any other poor soul that could have stumbled upon them." Naomi fought to keep her straight face and hold her laughter in. Her exaggeration knew no boundaries.

"Two of them? That's what you call a pack?! That's hardly any dogs at all, aside from how ridiculous and impossible it would be for them to 'pile up and jump the fence,'" Emily laughed.

"Emily, you're being insensitive to my traumatic experience," Naomi responded, seriously.

"Sorry, Naomi. I'm sure it was... very scary."

To the blonde's surprise, Emily had sounded sincerely apologetic. Realizing Emily was of the gullible type and feeling guilty for abusing her talent of straight-faced humor, Naomi confessed, "It wasn't _that_ bad. I got lots of useless things like teddy-bears and flowers, and my Mum made me plenty of her amazing chicken soup, even though having a mildly-serious, err, seriously-mild concussion is entirely different from having the flu... It was a good vacation which left me with a _great_ battle story," she said positively, managing to return Emily's sympathy to amusement.

"I thought you were _actually_ traumatized," the brunette lightly punched the blonde's shoulder. Neither gave the physical contact a second thought as if they were long-time friends.

"Yeah, well, I thought you weren't as gullible as a four-year-old that believes in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. Do you think there's monsters under the bed too?" Smirk.

"Oi! Mean! That's it! I'm taking these notes and leaving," Emily closed her textbook, grabbed the notebook from between them and piled them on top of each other then started putting them into her bag.

"Wait, stop, I'm sorry!" Naomi reached over to try and stop Emily from leaving, shocked to see a tricky smile turning back at her. "Oh, you bitch."

"_You_ started it," Emily chuckled.

"I can't believe you fooled me," Naomi crossed her arms.

"Should I leave you to cry about it?"

"Maybe," she grumbled, avoiding eye contact so as not to smile.

"Hmm, then again, watching you cry might be funny."

"Oh, you're terrible."

"Ya think so?"

Naomi thought for a moment, "No. I think you're pretty nice." She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable for unintentionally, openly saying something so kind amidst all their teasing.

"Ya think?" Emily asked very quietly and blushed. Truth be told, it was more of a thought - something she had not meant to say out loud.

Naomi's chest felt heavy, wondering if Emily was insecure, wondering what could have made such a cool person so insecure. She reminded herself she only knew the girl for a few hours and it was silly to think such deep things about someone else. Naomi pretended she didn't hear the question and that she had said something nice, "You know, it's getting rather late. I think we should head off to bed," Emily's eyes widened, "I mean you in your bed, me in my bed. In our own bed - bed_s, _separately. Go home and sleep. Leave now and yeah, okay, I'm just going to silently pack my things now." Naomi inwardly cursed herself for being so inarticulate.

_What the fuck? What. The. Fuck. That was weird. I'm not gay. She is gorgeous... beautiful blue eyes, soft hands, pretty blonde ha - No, Emily, people do not think about their friends like that. Act cool. Be cool. Do not think about her hands. Whatever you do, do not think about her hands. Or her eyes. Do not think about her. Just pretend she isn't even there. Fucking shit, that would not be normal either. _Emily embarrassedly avoided eye contact, as if looking into her eyes would reveal her internal conversation. As if her voice and hands were beyond her control she started writing on a piece of paper and talking to the flustered Naomi. "Here's my number... in case you need the notes again." _Perfect. That sounded normal, right?_

Naomi cleared her throat and took the paper, shoving it into her pocket, "Solid. See you in maths..." She didn't want to come off entirely as cold as she had before even if she was the one leaving abruptly now so she threw in their new inside joke, "_Stalker." _The blonde lifted her jean over-sized bag, covered in button-pins of various quotes and signs, onto her shoulder and strutted out the room without a backwards glance, leaving Emily to her thoughts.

**End note: **Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Sorry 'bout that small cliffhanger there. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews; your support is always the best motivation. Have a lovely day. Was there enough snark in there? haha.


	2. Chapter 2: No Yarn Attached

**Author's Note: **More characters introduced in this chapter. Prepare for some strong feelings toward and against them. And afterwards let me know how you felt about my portrayal of them, please. Big thanks to **marsupial1974, waitingonthegoldrush, **and two **anons. **Your reviews make my days happier. Thanks for all the follows and favs as well!

Chapter Two: No Yarn Attached

It was twenty minutes past one in the morning when Emily parked her red moped in the car lot behind Rosencrest Apartments. With her large helmet resting between her left elbow and hip and backpack on, she unlocked the back door using her resident key. She climbed up the creaky wooden steps to the third floor, not that one could really hear the creaking over the seemingly competitive music blasting. It was not abnormal for every weekend to be deafening... and most weekdays.

The brunette was not surprised to find her flat door already wide-open, entrance crowded with unfamiliar faces. She had no difficulty as the only sober one, sliding past the drunken strangers and into the entryway. Hardest part was passing through the narrow hallway to the bedrooms and living room; the reverberating bass combined with people half-dancing, half-fucking (the differences between the two movements were indistinguishable), threw her balance off. Almost nothing frustrated her more than the fact that she could not navigate her own fucking flat because Katie, her twin and flat-mate, insisted on maintaining her popular status via alcohol and excessive partying. When Emily finally managed to get through, trying to avoid getting whiskey and beer spilled on her leather jacket, she accidentally bumped into her sister.

"Watch it, bitch," her glassy-eyed, practically identical counterpart shouted while turning. "Oh, _Emily_. Where the fuck have _you _been? There are these cute boys that are _totally _your type."

_You don't know my type, Katie. We hardly even talk to each other anymore. _Emily withheld the intensifying frustration threatening to explode - there was no point in releasing it when Katie would forget anything she would have said by the morning. Then again, maybe that would be best because it would not actually affect their relationship. _Nah, better not. Wouldn't want to wreck her perfect, popularity party. Bottle it up - like usual._

"Holy shit, are you twins?! I fucking _love_ a twin thing, if you know what I mean." _Damn it. Not another one of these new fuckers. Gross. _A fellow with sandy brown hair and jagged teeth, of the stereotypically jockish aesthetic, was swaying in the small space beside them and suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

"I told you, Cookie." _Ew. Cookie? Are you shitting me? What kind of fucking name is that? _"We're basically identical. Except _I'm_ the better looking one, _obviously," _Katie slurred. Emily noticed the way Cookie was eye-fucking her twin and nearly gagged in front of them. She figured this must be Katie's "new thing." Emily always got shown off like a second-place trophy for Katie's self-aggrandizing comparisons when a new boy-toy came around. It disgusted the sober twin how frequently her sister had new boys flying in and out of her life, or vagina - _ew, don't think about that - _like the world's busiest international airport.

"Yeah, you're mint sex, babe," he bit his lower lip and seductively pulled Katie closer by her lower back. Katie was, as per usual, buying into the optimism for sexual opportunities disguised as compliments and attention. Emily rolled her eyes and pushed past them, not caring if the rush toward her room caused anyone else to lose their balance. Pissed to find two intoxicated individuals undressing next to her bed, she showed no hesitation in aggressively shoving them out the door. She grudgingly picked up the remaining trousers and thong between her thumb and index finger and dropped them in her rubbish bin.

_Step one: clear the premises and check belongings. Camera. Laptop. All here. Good. Step two: lock the door. Step three: begin relaxation. _Emily sat at her desk - the only organized place in the frequently trashed flat. She slipped on her extremely worthwhile noise-cancellation headphones, which she had saved up for half of last year and spent the majority of her barista salary on. Sounds of synthetic instruments and soothing, rhythmic percussion began to ease her tensed muscles. Closing her eyes, she started to replay her entire evening with Naomi in her head, trying to calculate if there had been any missed undertones in their conversations. She leaned back in her swivel chair and stretched her legs out, laying them on the wood so her feet were at height with her shoulders, as she often did when the music had returned her to a state of total comfort. Unfortunately, she was thinking too much - reading too much into what was said before which was taking away from her brief, good mood. She unsuccessfully tried drowning out her thoughts by increasing the volume of her music, only making her ears a bit sore.

She opened her eyes when she felt the vibration of her cellphone through the wood beneath her feet. Sitting upright, she lowered the music volume, despite not needing to hear to read a text message, and slid her phone open. The screen brightly lit up her face, contrasting the darkness of her room and the distantly visible white half-moon in her window.

**Freddie M: 2:13am: sk8 now?**

**2:13am: Yeah. Will be there in 10.**

**Freddie M: 2:15am: solid see u**

**2:15am: You text like such a skater.**

**Freddie M: 2:17am: gess so haha is tht bad?**

**2:18am: Maybe ;) leaving now**

Emily was used to Freddie's minimal texting style. They had been friends since their university orientation three years ago. His laidback attitude (she was not sure how much was due to the weed he smoked or to his genuine personality) and his similar interest in art made them really compatible. She was sure she would not have survived her freshman year without his friendship. They often hung out at his place to avoid Katie's obnoxious antics that clashed with their mellow ones. It was not unusual that she had also gotten pretty close to his roommate, Jonah Jeremiah, JJ for short. JJ was really awkward but knew enough trivia to surely win any game show, and more usefully, any easily entertained person's friendship.

She grabbed her helmet and backpack, carefully placing her expensive professional camera (another one of her long-time saved-up-for purchases) and her old second-hand laptop in it and exited. She made sure to lock her bedroom door behind her. _Not going to make the mistake again of leaving it unlocked at a party. Thank fuck I got there before they started doing anything on my bed. _

As she passed the small kitchen she noticed an unopened bottle of Smirnoff whipped cream vodka hidden among all the empty bottles lining the counter. It wasn't _that _hidden, but everyone still there was too "off their tits" to notice so she slipped it in her bag and left.

It did not really matter to Emily whether the flat was locked because Katie took ownership over all the space anyway. The decorating was a hideous blend of cheetah print and bright pink, or what Katie liked to stupidly call "highest-fashion," because it is supposedly _way_ better than "high-fashion." Emily never made the mistake of questioning her sister's taste in style after the initial move-in and several days of over-the-top bitchiness, mostly directed at Emily's clothes.

It was so much easier for her to let Katie do whatever she wanted with everything so she would, more often than not, be left alone about her own room and clothes. Still, anytime they went out together - an extremely rare occasion - Katie give Emily a once-over; "Are you honestly wearing _that_ to the party? I seriously wish you didn't look like me. We're not related. Got it?" Emily knew she hid in her sister's shadow when it came to any sort of attention; being noticed was generally much worse.

Six minutes later Emily arrived at the makeshift skate park. It was really an unused cement plot that was most likely a forgotten car lot, encircled by one of the university dorms. Freddie and a few other unknown skaters they had randomly seen around started creating cheap ramps and grinding poles out of wooden planks and boards stolen from potholes, cement blocks, bricks, old steel pipes, and anything else sturdy they could find.

She took her normal spot on one of the longer planks set up horizontally for seating. Freddie was already skating in the dark, doing impressive tricks on one of the boards propped against a dumpster. Emily enjoyed watching him as the wind peacefully blew his shaggy black hair in and out of his face. She took her headphones out of her backpack, only putting one in her ear so she could still hear the wheels against the rough cement and clattering against the poles. Her camera followed shortly after. She abandoned her backpack to get closer shots of Freddie and his skateboard. Flash. Flash. Flash. He acknowledged her with a sweet smile and continued skating around freely. Flash.

They were not keeping track of time or the amount of pictures taken. Flash. Flash. When Freddie stopped skating Emily took pictures of elements in the park. Flash. Flash. Flash. She loved urban photography and took advantage of the setting. Their eyes had adjusted as much as they could in the darkness. Flash. When they were further apart, Freddie could tell where she was based on the bright flashes. He lit a joint from the back pocket of his torn jeans and slowly exhaled the smoke, smiling at his friend enjoying herself. Flash. Flash. They did this a lot. Each doing their own thing - satisfied just by the awareness that they were in the presence of each other. After a while, the flash photography started to look like fireflies in the darkness. During a small break, Emily took a few inhales of his weed and was giggling for no obvious reason. She did not smoke nearly as often as Freddie did.

"Le'me see 'em." He gestured to the camera then to himself.

"They're rubbish," Emily shrugged and opened the camera to the photo viewer then cautiously handed it to him. "Careful, that camera's my baby."

"Don't worry, Em." He clicked through the selection of pictures, "Rubbish, eh? I think you're top quality, Em."

"Yeah?" she asked shyly.

"Yeah, _you_ and your photos too," he winked.

Emily punched him in the arm, "cheeky."

"Maybe," he rubbed the joint remains into the ground with one of his worn out shoes, "but I think your pictures are going to be on the billboards and in all the art galleries one day. You're good. _Really _good."

"Oh come off it, Freds, you're being _too_ nice." She took her camera and put it in her bag. _Okay, so I'm not that good at taking compliments about my photography. He's just being nice anyway. I'm not that good. Mum and Katie don't think so and I know they're not going to white lie about it because of friendship or kindness, or even because they're family. Oh, wouldn't that be the day..._

Freddie noticed the shift in Emily's attitude and changed the subject. "So what are we doing the rest of the night, Ems? More fuckery?"

"Le'me see." Emily dialed her sister's mobile and put it on speaker. They listened in silence to the repetitive dial tone, waiting. Loud unrecognizable shouting and music promptly ended the silence. She hastily shut her phone. "Guess they're not done," she said, checking her watch, "and it's three a.m."

"More fuckery it is!" Freddie picked up his skateboard. Emily took her backpack and helmet. Her moped would be fine for the night. They walked to his dorm. Because the dorm electronically locked itself after midnight, they broke into it by pulling forcefully against the weak door with their feet propped against the wall beside it. There was no security camera or alarm to discourage them. Fortunately, he lived on the first floor - nice and close. He did not bother pulling out his room key - just turned the knob and quietly opened the door.

They found the boy with brown, curly hair (debatably an afro) intently gazing at his desktop, playing some computer game. Freddie motioned Emily with a finger to his lips for silence as he stepped closer to JJ whose back was to the door. He suddenly grabbed JJ's chair and shook it hard.

"OH BOBBINS! JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH, MOSES, AND MYTHICAL GODS ABOVE!" JJ clutched his chest, breathing heavily. "Don't scare me like that Freddie, I thought I was about to get anally massacred. I told you the odds of someone breaking into our room and killing us was significant enough to make it worthwhile to lock the door whenever you leave."

"Did you just say anally massacred?" Emily bit her lip to withhold laughing.

"Oh, hi Emily; didn't see you there. Of course you'd be here when Freddie would do something so childish to impre-"

"JJ!" Freddie cut him off.

"Sorry Freddie, I didn't know you were still hiding your obvious interest i-"

"JJ! Shut up!" Glaring, Freddie was on the verge of duct-taping his roommate's mouth shut. He knew his friend could not help it, with his mild social problems, but Freddie could try and control it as much as possible, at least, when there were girls around.

The curly-haired boy had difficulty keeping secrets or at least thinking twice about what he said bvcds to certain people. He knew he was supposed to not say certain things in front of Emily, like how their social interactions clearly suggested Freddie was interested, while Emily's were, as he explained in a private analytical discussion with Freddie, a little more mysterious or questionable. "Sorry, Freddie - um, to answer your question, Emily, yes, I did say 'anally massacred.' This is an all male dorm so the odds of anal penetration are disproportionately high compared to any likelihood of vaginal involvement."

Freddie and Emily stood there in silence for a minute, trying to let the awkward moment pass. "Thanks for the details, Jay," Emily firmly pressed her lips together and nodded. They were used to his technical rants but sometimes the rants were graphic. "So what game are you playing?" She took a seat on their futon, between the two beds, shrugging off her bag. Freddie sat down next to her.

"_Portal Two_. You know. I like puzzles."

"Yeah, that's cool. Maybe you could show me sometime?" Emily was naturally friendly. Once you really got to know JJ, he was a complete (naive) sweetheart. There had only been a _few _awkward moments where she had to remind him that their relationship was strictly a friendship and that it was not okay to share any of his sexual thoughts that were relevant to her, if he had any. JJ brought out a sort of protective behavior in all his friends, who could be a little harsh sometimes but would not let anyone else say or do anything that could cause even the slightest harm to JJ. He was more fragile by nature, even if no one had acknowledged so aloud.

"I could show you right now, if you want?" His braces showed in his kind smile.

"Not now, Jay - another day, for sure. I'm going to whoop Freddie's arse in some _Call of Duty_ tonight," she smirked.

"You wish you could," Freddie joked, getting up to grab the Xbox 360 controllers and turn on the TV, then sitting back down. He was about to hand a controller to Emily, but she was busy pulling something out of her bag. "Ahh, of course, _the fuckery_," he said, referring to the newly introduced vodka.

Emily also pulled out two plastic red cups she had taken from the party. JJ did not drink; it would severely mess with his multiple medications. She poured herself and Freddie more than a fair share of alcohol and together they took a large gulp before starting to game.

As she had predicted, Emily was certainly doing some arse whooping. The drinking became ritual - every time Emily won she drank and every time Freddie lost he drank - so they both drank after every match. Many rounds later they were both wasted and bored of shooting, "You're really bad at this, Freddie."

"I know," he chuckled, "I don't know how you got so good at it."

"I'm good at a lot of things," Emily said innocently. Only Freddie realized the potentially inappropriate connotation of what she had said. "I don't know why _you _play it though."

"I only play it 'cause I know it's good for letting _your _anger out."

"I'm _not_ angry, though." Emily sighed and took a sip from the bottle; they had given up on the cups after only a few shots worth. The awful taste of vodka had long ago become unnoticeable.

Without acknowledging her denial, Freddie continued, "How about we prank call someone..."

"Oh, YES! Let's do it!" Emily was clearly excited.

"Alright, who should we, err, call then?"

"Katie," Emily decided quickly, despite the looks of concern directed at her. She remained firm with her decision until they finally gave up protesting. A drunk Emily was a stubborn Emily.

They made four attempts at sloppily dialing Katie's number on Freddie's mobile, trying to copy the number from Emily's mobile. For all they knew, Katie would not recognize his number because she did not care or know about Emily's friends. Finally, they got so desperate they asked JJ for help. JJ hesitantly obliged and sat waiting to hear the outcome of what he just assisted.

Emily made her voice deep, trying to disguise it, "Hello, thissss isss the fashinn poleeeze. Youu are underrr arrest ferrr havin' bad fashins." Freddie had to cover his mouth to silence his laughter but Emily laughed openly. "Haha, fashins, that sounds like fat chins. Get it? 'Cause you have fat chinss. Go to HELL! You SUCK, KATIEKINS!" She abruptly hung up. _Shit, I just used her secret childhood nickname. She's totally going to know it was me. _Emily poured more vodka and swallowed most of it, then started laughing hysterically with Freddie, who thought the call was brilliant, and a nervous JJ.

When the laughter ended, JJ closed his computer game and went to bed. Emily and Freddie restrained their laughter as much as they could while they whispered nonsense, mostly about the prank call, until the snoring signaled to them that JJ was deeply asleep.

A noiseless, sullen mood fell over them as they began to sober up. It was 5:34 am and their fuckery had been finished, or so Emily thought. Freddie knew he had to cheer her up to take her mind off whatever was troubling her. There was something she had been hiding all night - something irrelevant to the usual Katie and Mum problems he vaguely knew of. He had pieced together small fragments of the problem from whenever drunken Emily accidentally slipped them with the intention of him forgetting when they sobered.

He managed to pull himself up until he was standing, albeit unsteadily. Emily watched curiously as he quietly shifted around his stuff until he dumped a plastic bag in front of her. "Left over from my art project," Freddie explained. Various colors of yarn were piled between Emily's outstretched legs. "What do you suppose we do with it?"

"Got any tape?" She mischievously smiled.

"I do..." He raised an eyebrow in her direction before turning on his feet and conveniently grabbing two rolls that he had in his bottom desk drawer - other leftover supplies. He helped Emily to her feet when she lifted her hands upwards in his direction. With the support of walls, furniture, and each other, they managed to walk into the hall with the yarn and tape. It felt like they were working for hours before they ran out of yarn. They had trapped themselves in his room, surrounded by a giant yarn web that connected all the dorm rooms and filled the hallway like an impossible maze or laser security system.

"Congratulations, Em. Job well done."

"Couldn't have done it without ya, Freddie," she smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his lanky frame.

"How 'bout we call it a night?"

"I'm pretty sure it's morning now."

"Yeah... but I could do with some sleep."

Emily was cuddled into Freddie on his bed, happy she could be that close to her friend, knowing he understood they were only friends, and enjoy the physical comfort of contact. She felt safe in his arms. She was too tired to think specifically about Naomi, and that made her feel good.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" They heard shouting in the hallway just as they were about to fall asleep. Emily's head bounced on his chest as he laughed, making them both giggle even more. After the person in the hall shouted, more and more people got out of their rooms to see the commotion and were saying similar things, from what they could hear. _Another night well spent. _

"Goodnight Freddie."

"Goodnight Ems."

**Author's Note: **Just by the way, I've pulled that prank at school before with my senor class, among our many others. Let me know what you think - even if it's a word a two, I always appreciate it. Have a lovely day/night.


	3. Chapter 3: The Distraction Attraction

**Author's Note: **Oh my gosh, thanks for all the reviews you guys! They make me so happy. I especially loved hearing all your favorite parts and what makes you guys laugh. **Marsupial1974** - to answer your questions - I think it's very common for people to fall in love with their friends, it doesn't always mean anything in the long run - but I think anyone falling in love with Emily other than Naomi puts most of us off anyway. And as far as whether or not Emily knows she's gay - well, that's all a part of the story for us to find out, isn't it?

Chapter Three: The Distraction Attraction

It was another rainy day in Bristol - an opportunity to hole up in the small coffee shop instead of going for her usual morning run. Sometimes Naomi liked running in the rain - enjoyed anything that took her mind off personal thoughts. Today's activities included writing, or attempting to, while the raindrops tapped and drizzled down the window she was leaning against. Her current journalism assignment was to write about the upcoming "SlutWalk," a protest against excusing rape by attributing horrific crimes to the way women dress, or their physical appearance. Unfortunately, Naomi had not gotten very far:

"**The SlutWalk" **_Wow. A fucking title - how informative. That will really catch someone's eye... Fuck's sake._

She was far too distracted by the strangers walking in and out of the shop. The blonde already had two different coffees in the two hours she had been there. It seemed like really anything that was an excuse not to write was far more interesting. Even the dull conversation between an elderly couple, a few tables to her right, about their _adorable_ grandkids visiting seemed interesting. She was so invested in the story about "Jacob not sharing his new birthday toys with Toby" that she had not even noticed when her friend unexpectedly sat beside her.

"It seems you've discovered a fascinating new species, Campbell."

"Ah, yes, _the elderly._ Ha, ha."

"What are you doing? You know, aside from creepily staring at old people?"

Naomi turned her attention away from the old couple and faced her friend. If you did not know Effy, short for Elizabeth, you would think she was stereotypically Goth. She had straight, long, brown hair; blue eyes surrounded by heavy, black eyeliner; pale skin; and skimpy, black clothing. Naomi's friend did not shy away from wearing shirts that barely covered her arse as dresses, and tights that were more like single threads against her skin. _You would definitely be intimidating if you weren't my friend._

_We must make quite the pair; you and I. _Naomi smiled at the thought of people fleeing away from them in terror like an old-school Godzilla movie.

"I'm writing," Naomi looked at the notebook on the table that only had a title and her name in the corner.

"I see," Effy said, although her tone suggested she meant more than the absence of writing. _Oh, shut up. _

"Yeah, I've got old people blocking my train of thought. They're like my kryptonite or something."

Effy raised an eyebrow as if to say_, "Really?"_ Naomi just responded with an indifferent shrug; she liked to think she was immune to the judgmental looks of her friend. This time Effy spoke out loud. "So what's really bothering you so much that you can't write a novel like you usually do?" _Emily practically said the same thing when I told her that dog story, about writing, errr, talking, like a novelist._

"Nothing." Naomi was suddenly way more interested in the old couple once again.

"I wonder how their sex life is - with his wrinkled dick, and her loose vagina - saggy balls and tits everywhere," Effy said as though she were actually contemplating it deeply while turning her attention in the same direction as Naomi.

"Ugh, Jesus fucking Christ, Eff. You're disgusting! I'll never look at old people the same way again, ugh." Naomi's face scrunched up very disturbed by the imagery that had obviously presented itself in her mind.

"I had to say something to get you to stop staring at them - to answer me." She shrugged as if what she had said was now no big deal. "Where were you last night?"

"Effy, you're not the fucking journalist here, what's with the fucking interview?"

"Because last night you were supposed to be smoking with me on the roof, but apparently you were so distracted by something that you forgot. And I'm under the impression you're still so distracted by it that now, that you can't easily write an article like normal."

"Oh." Naomi looked away, remembering the night before - where she had been and whom she had been with before she called it a night early and dozed off. Effy was visibly waiting for an elaboration. "I was, uh, studying."

"You're a shit liar."

"No! I_ was _studying. I have a maths exam coming up."

Effy rolled her eyes, "_Okay_, so what was different about your studying from normal? Because I know you wouldn't miss out on a fag break for maths."

_Fucking hell. _"Nothing," sighed Naomi. "Will you stop looking at me like _that? _Drop it, Eff."

The greatest thing about Effy was that she knew when her friend needed pressing and when to stop. "Want that fag now?"

Naomi took the alternative to their short conversation gratefully. "Yeah." She packed her things into her bag and followed Effy outside, pulling her gray hood over her blonde locks - it was still raining. Jacketless, her friend let the rain hit her skin and hair. It was not as if Naomi had another jacket or hoodie to offer the brunette and she was not going to offer the one she was wearing and let herself get wet. She rationalized that Effy would feel more comfortable with wet, see-through clothes than she herself would anyway.

They found a small portion on the roof covered by a raised, thick billboard near the fire escape. They took shelter in the dry space beneath it, lighting their fags with slight difficulty at keeping the flame long enough in the cold wind. Naomi began to feel the stress from their talk fade with the increasing amount of nicotine in her system. Silently, they smoked in the rain; each lit a second fag and smoked some more.

"If you're looking for a distraction, you should go out with me." Effy rolled her eyes. "_Not _on a date, dumbass. I already have one; Cook's taking me. You should join us."

"Oh yeah, being a third-wheel sounds like a _total _blast."

"Well you would hang out with _other_ people, Naomi. The whole fun of going to a party is that everyone will be trashed and there are no long-term commitments. No one will remember your name in the morning and you will have successfully taken your mind off things."

"Hmm." _Yeah. Anything distracting sounds good._

Effy knew she already won Naomi over but entertained her friend by pressing further. "Do you really want to spend tonight trapped in your mind?"

Naomi gave the invitation more thought. _No names. Not like Emily. No new friends. No thoughts. Plenty of alcohol. _"Alright, I'll go... if you want me to so badly." They both knew saying she was going for Effy was a safety net for Naomi's emotions - denial of her situation, whatever it was.

"Yeah, cool. I'll pick you up at ten, wear something hot." The brunette flicked her fag off the roof and started climbing down the fire escape.

"I don't always look hot?" Naomi joked, but Effy was already gone or not responding. _Wear something hot? What have I gotten myself into...?_

It was 8:58 p.m., one hour until the party, and Naomi was strutting back and forth between the mirror and closet in her single-flat. She cursed whoever's brilliant idea it was to put a full-length, mounted mirror on the wall on the opposite side of the room instead of beside the closet itself. She was sure she had walked off her lunch and dinner in the last half hour. The blonde took her frustration out on whoever knocked on the door. "WHO IS IT?!"

Naomi put on her bathrobe to answer it after a few minutes of silence was followed by another persistent knock, because she had already tried on the majority of her clothes that were now lying on her bed or on the floor, decidedly not _hot. _"Can I fucking help y-" She abruptly stopped talking when she saw it was Effy. "Oh, hi, I thought we were leaving at ten."

"Yeah, we are. Which is why I came early to help you pick something... hot. I figured you would have tried and tossed all your clothes everywhere already. I knew I should not have told you to wear something 'hot' - you think too much," said Effy, pushing past an annoyed Naomi, and going into the bedroom. "Just as I thought." Effy saw the messy state of Naomi's room. They had known each other since childhood; there was little either of them could not predict about one another.

It was time to leave, when Effy had managed to find Naomi a classic, sexy (of course Effy would choose black) dress, and had helped her with her makeup. Cook did not bother knocking and entered the flat. "You ladies look fuckin' ace, t'night. I'd do ya both togetha' if you girls were int'a that." A grin Naomi could not help but think was incredibly stupid, perverted, and misogynistic spread across his face. _Why the fuck is Effy even going out with this guy? _Naomi questioningly looked at her - Effy just shrugged.

They got into Cook's cheap, two-door Ford Pinto. They had to roll down one of the front seats to let Naomi into the backseat. "Welcome to the Shaggin' Wagon ladies!" he obnoxiously chuckled. The car was surprisingly clean inside, something entirely unexpected for its terrible appearance on the outside. Cook noticed Naomi's shocked expression in the rearview mirror, "Not many ladies want to shag in a car full of old pizza boxes and condom wrappers." _Dick smart, eh?_

They knew they arrived at the right place when they saw a group of people carrying bottles of beer and alcohol up stairs through the glass door. _Rosencrest Apartments, what kind of fucking name is that? _Effy let Naomi out of the car. "Smoke first?" Naomi gladly took the offer; she was already feeling anxious about going inside, where the people were.

"I'll see you ladies up there! Got'ta grab the alcohol before the good stuffs all taken, yeah." He followed the group they had seen when they pulled up.

"Whose flat is this anyway?"

Effy did not answer; she had no idea she had brought Naomi to the exact location of the person the blonde was trying to avoid. In not saying anything, Effy intended to imply that the less Naomi knew, the less Naomi could give it any extra thought. They were at a party to stop thinking - the name of the host would not make any useful, legitimate difference to achieving the goal.

"Right then, shall we?" Naomi suggested, accepting Effy's obvious implication. Naomi felt ready to just get the evening over with. With that, they stubbed out their cigarettes and went inside, up the creaky staircase. _Jesus, this place is quality. _Even her thoughts were sarcastic...

"I'm going to look for Cook," Effy shouted to Naomi. The music was too loud to hear anything, but Naomi managed to read Effy's lips and nodded. As soon as she could not make out her friend among the faces, she searched for alcohol. She was going to need a lot of alcohol to tolerate the people invading her space and undesirably ogling her like she had a cheap price tag between her breasts.

_Success! _Naomi took the unopened bottle of tequila all for herself. It was not going to be that great without a chaser or a lime and salt, but she had no high expectations of leisurely drinking going into the house party. She drank four shots' worth directly from the bottle incredibly quickly; paying no attention to the few drunk fellows that had attempted to start meaningless conversation with her. Naomi's intimidating presence was coming in handy.

Even after half of the bottle, several stupid, drunk arguments, and one odd guy who seemed more stoned than drunk, Naomi was no more interested in the party. She _was _distracted but hating the process. Looking for somewhere away from everyone, she traced her hand along the wall until she found a door. She managed to twist the knob and push it open. A girl behind her nearly fell into the room with her, but she managed to push the girl away, now alone, or so she thought.

"WHAT THE FUCK? I THOUGHT I LO-" Emily turned around. Her headphones were definitely not loud enough to have drowned out the sound of her door slamming shut. "Fucking hell, what are _you_ doing here?"

Neither Emily nor Naomi could hear the fight outside her door, starting between Katie and Effy. "What the fuck are you doing, dancing with _my _boyfriend, slag?!" The twin was riled up, known by nearly everyone to be a hothead.

"He invited me." Effy had no need to embellish her responses with name-calling. It was not going to make any difference to the situation - Katie was pissed.

Cook stepped between them. "Ladies, ladies, I'm sure we can come to some sort of compromise, preferably a three-some, ay? We're all good lookin' people. Everyone can have a piece of the Cookie Monster. We're all winners," he voiced his practiced speech and laughed.

"Fuck _off_, Cook," the girls said simultaneously.

"I didn't know he was _your _boyfriend, Katie."

"Sure you didn't. Everyone knows you sleep with _everyone. _I bet you heard he was _my _boyfriend and got all jealous or something." Katie's lisp was more noticeable when she raised her voice.

"You know he's just using you for sex."

"And you're not, bitch? You can fuck off like the miserable, lonely cunt that you are. _You're_ not welcome here."

Accepting that logic was not going to make any difference, Effy smirked to piss Katie off and turned on her heels as if she knew something more and was not sharing it. By the gasping, she figured Katie was overcompensating for her temper by passionately making out with Cook to spite Effy.

Meanwhile, Naomi stared shocked at the girl cutely crossing her arms, upset, in front of her. "I... I, uh..."

Emily was fired up enough to ignore the stutter. "I did not take you for the partying type. You're not exactly a social butterfly."

"Effy dragged me here. I should, uh, probably go look for her," Naomi tried to say, but it was slurred. _Fucking alcohol. Damn, has your face always been this pretty? _

"Naomi, why are you acting so hot and cold?" _What? Where is this coming from? Nobody has ever spoken to me so directly and softly, other than Mum. _Naomi was too stunned and frightened by the behavior to respond.

Thankfully, Emily managed to understand. "Yeah, well you can fuck off then."

Naomi took a deep breath. _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. _"Right, I'll, uh, leave you to it... enjoy your night." She didn't know what she did to piss Emily off so much, but figured her last three words would not hurt. Before she had even closed the door behind herself, Emily had already turned around in her chair and propped her feet back up. Naomi stood there a moment with her hand on the doorknob, listening, as if she could hear something inside - something that would reveal Emily's thoughts on the other side. Instead Naomi felt the lock turn. _Yep, it's locked. _

Frustrated and unsure what to do with herself, Emily sat back down and tried to turn up the volume. _What the fuck is Naomi doing here? _But the sounds from outside her door were too loud to cancel out the noise tonight. She took her headphones off and let herself fall facedown into her mattress. Emily felt no better than before, even after releasing an emotionally charged scream into her pillow. Nothing was helping. Giving up on finding comfort in her room with all the commotion just outside her door, Emily grabbed her leather jacket and a bottle of Malibu from her closet. She locked her bedroom door and left the flat. She walked down the hall, up a few floors, down another hall, and climbed up the ladder to the roof. Residents were not allowed up there, but that did not stop anyone who wanted some fresh air and a good view of the city.

_You've got to be shitting me. _Naomi was leaning against a tall chimney smoking. Emily could not withhold her anger. "I _thought _you were looking for Effy."

Naomi shrugged nonchalantly. "Couldn't find her... Have you seen her?"

_UGH. _"No, I haven't. I'll just leave and find another vacant roof, then." _Fucking bitch._

"Wait, Emily. Don't go," Naomi had her hand with the fag dangling at her side, her standing body entirely facing Emily now.

"I don't smoke." _I'm not taking your shit. I don't smoke. Or smoke that often, anyway. _

"Stay anyway." _Hot again? Really?!_

"Fine, but if you're going to be mean..." Emily reflected back on their notes arrangement as if it applied to every social situation now - note sharing or not.

"I promise, I won't be." _Genuine-sounding._

"Fine." Emily zipped her jacket. It was kind of chilly up there. She remembered the Malibu, untwisted the cap, and took a few gulps. The alcohol reduced the evening chill. She did not like drinking multiple nights in a row, but this particular night had become a unique exception.

"Can I have a sip?" Naomi stepped closer and shyly held her hand out expectantly.

Emily looked to the outstretched hand and made a grudging face before handing it over, "Am I always going to be sharing my things with you?"

"Maybe," Naomi laughed then realized she should probably say something to start a conversation. "So, where'd you get the, uh, rum from?"

_Are you shitting me, are you that trashed? There's a fucking party in my flat and you're asking me where I got alcohol... _"The fucking party..." Emily was still upset so she did nothing to mask it in her tone. Despite the attitude, the wit returned them to the casual, sarcastic, and straight-faced teasing that they usually conversed through.

Naomi was not discouraged. "No, I know, I just, I guess..." she realized she sounded stupid and struggled to make her words come out properly with the newly introduced alcohol joining the rest already in her system, "I just guess I didn't see any rum on the table."

"Yeah, alright." _Okay, maybe you're not so terrible. _"I have my own stash of alcohol. I would not want to waste it on people who are too trashed to notice the difference between decent and shitty tasting drinks."

Naomi smiled at Emily's statement, and then added a seemingly random statement of her own. "I don't like people."

Emily momentarily ignored the randomness. "Yeah? They aren't _all _mean."

"No, but the nice ones don't always stay nice. I would rather avoid the risk altogether." Naomi took another gulp of the rum and passed it back to Emily, then lit another fag. She made sure to blow the smoke in a direction where the wind would not carry it into the other girl's face.

"Not giving anyone a chance may eliminate the bad people, but you won't meet any of the good people either, that way. What's the point of living such a boring life?"

Naomi shrugged. "I think that star is moving."

_Off-topic again. Whatever. "_I think what you mean to say is that you see a shooting star. And I don't see it." Emily looked into the dark sky, taking some more alcohol in her mouth as she did so. The coconut flavor masked the drink well enough for her to take a considerable amount without cringing.

"You must not be close enough." Naomi looked down at Emily who was sitting cross-legged.

"You're joking right? You're what - a few feet closer just 'cause you're standing. That would not make the slightest difference."

"You would still be rather far, you're rather short in comparison to the likes of me, _shrimp." _

"I am not _that _short."

"Pretty sure your nose is up to my belly-button."

"Now you're just exaggerating."

"Pshhhh, nooooooo."

"Look, you drunken fool." Emily stood up next to Naomi, showing that she was only a few inches shorter - the height of her nose was well past the other girl's belly button.

"Drunken fool? Really? Was that the best you got?"

"You did just call me a 'shrimp' a moment ago."

"Hmm. Would you rather I call you shorty, short stuff, smurf, midget, half-pint, runt, teeny-weenie, peewee, munchkin," Naomi cleared her throat, "or would you prefer my favorite - vertically challenged?" She laughed.

Emily, mostly amused by the abnormally charming rant but not willing to admit it, shoved Naomi. The blonde ended up tripping and falling backwards, on her arse.

"Shit! Are you alright? I didn't think you were_ that_ unstably drunk."

"I'm fine, Emily, I just tripped, is all. Your _shrimp_ body couldn't push me over even if you used all your strength." Naomi was leaning on her two hands that she propped behind herself. It was probably the alcohol, but the fall had not actually hurt.

"Oh, good," Emily chuckled, sat down next to her, and mimicked her position, "but I'm sorry anyway; I shouldn't have pushed you."

"Do you think you're one of the _good _people?"

"Do you always ask important questions relevant to past conversations out of the blue?"

A noncommittal shrug. "Maybe."

"It's dumb."

"Yeah? Well you're dumb."

"No, _you're_ dumb!" Emily tried to point with the hand holding alcohol and some accidentally sloshed out onto Naomi's bare leg. She laughed, "Get what you deserve, _dummy_."

"Gim'me that!" Naomi took the alcohol from Emily and faked as if she were about to dump the remaining contents on her.

"No, wait! Don't!" Emily tried to block Naomi with her hands up in front of her body.

Instead Naomi pulled her own hand back and took another drink from the bottle.

"Bitch," Emily mumbled. _Always falling for it._

Naomi spat out the drink in her mouth, and erupted in laughter. She couldn't help it, the way Emily was pouting like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Oi! You got spit and alcohol all over me now."

"Karma's a bitch." Naomi winked before taking another swing. They both laughed.

Their eyes shot in the direction of clanging metal. A familiar face popped up at the top of the ladder. "Hey Emily... and girl who doesn't talk..." Naomi recognized him as the stoner lad she had proudly chased away without even saying a word, earlier.

The girls said "hi" in unison. The comfortable setting that had developed in their time alone together changed to an awkward one. Sensing something was off, Emily tried to kill the silence and introduced them to each other, "Naomi, this is Freddie. Freddie, this is Naomi."

"Hi," the blonde repeated.

"Ah, so she talks!" Freddie said while Naomi shifted awkwardly, unsure how to respond. He turned his attention back to Emily. "I was looking for you. How about we fuck with Katie's party?"

"Sounds grand. You up for some fun trouble, Miss...?"

"Uh..." Hesitance_. _"Campbell. Try not to laugh, yeah?"

"Wait, your last name is Campbell? Like Naomi Campbell, the crazy model?"

"Yes."

Freddie laughed but Emily obligingly held hers in. "Alright, _Miss Campbell, _you up for some fun trouble?"

"May as well, the company up here was getting a bit boring," she teased.

The three of them climbed down the ladder, down the staircase, and returned to the party. Before joining Freddie and Emily again, Naomi wanted to find Effy. Naomi searched around and gave up after what felt like forever. She found Emily. _Huh, why are you wearing different clothes than before? _Naomi asked her, "Have you seen Effy?"

The girl turned around and Naomi was shocked to see facial features very similar but slightly different to Emily's. _A twin. That explains it. _"Are you joking?" When the twin saw Naomi was confused she did not hesitate to clarify, "I fucking kicked her slag-arse out of here hours ago. Crazy bitch had the audacity to show up with _my _boyfriend."

Naomi panicked. She felt horrible for not having noticed her best mate was gone all along. This is why she could not make new friends - they would get in the way of keeping her old ones; the reliable ones that were there for her when she needed them. Emily was the distraction - not the party. She had to leave. She had to go find Effy.

"Hello? Earth to whoever the fuck you are. Are you there?"

The blonde snapped out of her mental rant and swiftly turned on her heels to leave, ignoring the annoyed, bitchy voice speaking at her from behind. Emily looked just in time to see Naomi leave without having said a word about why she was leaving. She _had _just said she was going to stay with her and the presently confused Freddie, but now she was leaving. _Fucking stupid. Why did I bother being hopeful? She's always going to be hot and cold. She'll never change. _

"Fucking bitches, tonight," she heard Katie say to some people.

Emily felt the need to take her frustration out on someone. She decided a prank was less sufficient than a fight. Ignoring Freddie's protests, even telling him to "fuck off" a few times until he faded away, she confronted her sister. "You're such a selfish bitch!"

"Excuse me?" Katie said as if that were the most preposterous accusation. "You think I'm a selfish bitch? Who's the one who sent their loving sister - one kind enough to always invite you to parties and give you top advice - a terrible, bitchy, mean prank call?!"

Emily could not deny what Katie said. She remembered last night with Freddie. Instead she deflected with an accusation of her own. "You're always throwing parties. I don't want to go to your stupid parties, but I have no fucking choice because they are in _our _apartment. I fucking found some people trying to have sex in _my _bed last night. It's all your fucking fault!"

"That's stupid!"

"It's the truth, Katie."

"You're just jealous 'cause I'm smarter, prettier, more popular, and all-around better than you," the drunk twin growled. Everyone was crowded around silently watching the heated feud. Someone had even lowered the music so they could all hear the argument more clearly.

"I'm done with your bullshit, Katie. I'm moving out." Emily turned around and went to her room. Everyone moved aside as she stormed away and slammed then locked her door shut.

"You have nowhere to go!" Katie shouted after her, relentlessly banging on her sister's door with her fists.

Emily had long ago figured out she could exit through her window in case of an emergency using the tall tree only a foot away. She packed her backpack with her camera, laptop, chargers, and wallet before climbing out and down with her helmet on. She drove her moped around for a while, feeling significantly sobered up before she had decided to take it for a ride. Tired, Emily parked outside a pub and went inside.

She brushed passed the few people by the entrance. For the most part it was a relaxed place - not too many people there. Everyone was sitting at tables minding their own business. She approached the bar and took a seat on an empty stool. Emily was unsure how she felt when she looked to her left, after ordering a few pints of lager, and saw Effy staring at her.

"Hey."

_I have no energy to run anymore. _"Hey." She waited for her lager patiently and downed the first one relatively quickly. The blue eyes, very different from Naomi's, were watching her. After another drink, Emily turned in her seat so she was facing Effy. "What's _her _deal?"

"What's _your _deal?" Effy returned the question quickly.

Silence. Blink. Drink. Reflection.

Effy said the last thing of meaning that evening very quietly, to herself. "I get it now. You both hide from what matters most to you."

**Author's Note: **Whew, that was a long one! Let me know what you love in the reviews, I appreciate every single one of them! I suppose this chapter explored a bit more of Effy and Katie - I hope I stayed true to their characters (and everyone else's), at least, this is how I imagined them. Have a lovely day!


	4. Chapter 4: Passively Persuasive

**Author's Note: **THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS!

**Chapter Four: Passively Persuasive **

Emily was rather tired of drinking. She could already feel a headache coming on. Effy had a knowing smirk on her face and was not saying anything, which happened to be seriously pissing Emily off. She did not want to be angry, so she decided it was time to sober up. Since she could not go back home without facing Katie, she decided the next best thing to sleeping was eating to recover from a hangover.

It was early morning, birds tweeting, as she walked down the block into the twenty-four hour diner. A chipper waitress served her some buttermilk pancakes that Emily happily drowned in maple syrup and hungrily scarfed down. Rubbing her full tummy, feeling a bit less hung-over, she wondered what to do next. The brunette left some cash and a small tip on the table and exited. She pulled her camera out of her backpack and turned it on.

Flash. Flash. It did not matter what time of day or where she was, Emily could always find new, interesting things to photograph. When her feet grew tired of taking her around the shops she settled on one of the sidewalk benches near her parked moped. Flipping through her pictures she deleted the ones she did not like and added some filters to various other ones. She had come to the end of the day's photos and was starting to flip through the pictures from her last session, when Freddie had skateboarded. She smiled to herself remembering the better parts of that evening, her fondness of their friendship.

A sad feeling emerged from the back of her mind when she thought about what happened last night. Freddie had attempted to stop her from making bad decisions after Naomi left, but she had taken some of her anger verbally out on him. Regret. She tucked her camera back into her bag and put on her helmet. It was clear what she had to do next. Driving around until she found their skate park, she searched for him. He was not there. She parked her moped next to his dorm and walked inside. It was 8:35 am; the door was no longer locked.

When she knocked on the door, JJ called out, "Come in." She opened it. "Oh, hi Emily."

"Hey Jay, how are you?" She did not want to be impolite and immediately start questioning him with her agenda.

"I'm fine, but I imagine you are here for something other than checking on how I'm doing this morning. Freddie left." _Always so smart._ "I'm sorry, I don't know where."

"Oh." _Shit. Now what?_

JJ felt bad he did not know any more useful information regarding his roommate's whereabouts. "He looked frustrated and upset and grabbed his skateboard before leaving, if that helps." _Shit. My fault._

"Thanks, Jay."

"He'll have to come back at some point. I'm sure he's fine."

_He doesn't have a clue this is my fault. I upset him. _"Yeah," Emily said sadly. "Do you mind if I stay here 'til then?"

"Not at all - be my guest. You're always welcome here," he said and smiled optimistically. "Are you alright, Emily? I could call him for you. But I imagine you probably already tried that. And let's be honest, he's way more likely to pick up a phone call from you than from myself, so my calling probably wouldn't help very much. But I can try anyway, if you'd like." _You're so nice to me. Too bad I'm not interested in more than friendship from you._

Emily tried smiling but ended up starting to cry instead. She shook her head despite saying, "I'm fine." Her voice betrayed her, elevating in pitch at the end as the tears fell down her face. She laid down on Freddie's bed and pulled the covers to her chin. Not wanting JJ to see her cry, she turned to face the wall.

The curly-haired boy comforted her with a few last words: "It will be okay, Emily. I promise." He then left her alone so she could fall asleep in silence. The blanket muffled her cries until they faded out entirely. Nothing like an eventful evening fueled by emotional drama to send her into a deep sleep.

The bright light from the uncovered window showed through her closed eyelids. Emily opened her eyes and moved her hand closer to her face. She had fallen asleep with her mobile in her hand. 3:56 pm. _I was asleep for over seven hours, damn. Where's Freddie? _She turned around to see if JJ was there. A smile spread across her face when she saw what was on the bedstand. She pulled the sticky note closer and read it:

**Emily - I left you a brownie and some green tea. I'll be back by 8pm in case Freddie isn't back yet. Hope you are feeling better. Love, JJ, aka the Puzzle Master. **

Sure enough, there was a brownie wrapped in cling film and a thermos on top of a napkin. Her eyes focused past the food to see Freddie on the futon. He was nodding his head rhythmically with headphones in and sketching. She felt peaceful watching him for a while until he glanced in her direction. "Hey," she said sleepily and smiled.

Freddie smiled in response but felt self-conscious, wondering how long she had been watching him draw. He did not think his artwork was bad but he had also been heavily moving to the music and silently mouthing the words while he sketched. "Hey," he said a bit loudly, forgetting his concept of volume was off when he had music still going in his ears.

Emily motioned to her ears and Freddie sheepishly took his headphones out, "Sorry. Hi, Emily."

"Hey," she repeated.

"Have a nice nap?"

"Mhmmm." Emily stretched her arms and back then relaxed again. "Your bed is really comfy."

"My bed says thanks." They lightly chuckled.

"Are you mad at me?" Her voice was always a giveaway when it came to her emotions. It lowered when she was sad or worried.

"I'm not mad, Em; I love you. I can never be mad at you." There was something deeper to what he said, but it went unnoticed by sleepy Emily.

"What about after last night?" _Are you sure? Last night was bad._

"I was frustrated, but I wasn't mad." He sighed, but smiled to let her know it was okay. "I know you're hurting, Em, and sometimes I wish I knew how to help you."

She did not like talking about her stronger feelings, even with him. Her best defensive response was reassurance. "I'll be alright, Freddie. I just need to find somewhere new to live."

"You're always welcome here."

"No offence but the all guys dorm smells of something, and it ain't roses," she laughed. _Thanks, though. _"I want a place of my _own. _I'm one week away of having enough money to make a down payment. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for promotions or raises at the teashop, so I'm always saving up for lengthy periods of time."

"I could lend you the money?" He offered.

"Nah, just one more week with Katie shouldn't be so miserable. I was planning on telling her I was going to move out in a nicer way some time this week anyway. It just sort of came out all wrong last night."

"Are you alright?" His forehead wrinkled with concern.

"Stop worrying, Freddie. Katie will cool off and I will too. It just takes time, y'know?"

"Yeah." He sounded uncertain, but did not press for more assurance. "Well, if there's anything I can do to help..."

"I know where you live." Emily finished the sentence for him, but said it with the connotation of stalking him. They laughed.

"You sure you don't want to stay the week?" _Why are you so persistent? Your bed isn't that comfy..._

Emily shook her head, "You're so nice to me."

He shrugged nonchalantly and opened the window behind him. Placing the sketchpad that was in his lap onto the futon, he got up to grab something from his bedside table. Freddie pulled out a joint and lit it. JJ had illegally tampered with the smoke alarm in their room as a birthday present to Freddie, on the condition that he only smoke while JJ was not around. As long as their window was open, the smoke alarms in the old hall would not detect it. And the building reeked of body odor so much that a little weed unrecognizably mixed within the blend of mostly pungent scents.

Emily got off Freddie's bed and scooted into his side to cuddle when he sat back down. He wrapped his hand that wasn't holding the joint around her shoulders and laid his head on hers. "It will be alright, Em," Freddie softly said.

"Love you too, Freddie." Emily watched him take back his arm and return to drawing, while still managing to cuddle.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Walking out of the pub and down the sidewalk, Effy pulled out a fag and lit it. She ignored the coughs and reproachful looks from the onlookers who inhaled her exhalations. The automatic doors opened as she stepped into the corner store. She grabbed Advil and two water bottles. Having spent all her money on alcohol she needed to get resourceful; Effy walked up to a few boys in the beer section. "Anyone care to do me a favor...?" All their eyes slowly dragged from her feet upward until they saw her suggestive smirk and raised eyebrow. They nearly all said some variation of "yes" at once. She held out her items and one of the boys eagerly took them and strode past everyone to the register, only looking back to smugly grin at his friends.

Effy followed him and waited until he paid. "Thanks."

She started heading out the door, turning around when the boy called out, "Hey, don't I get a blowjob now or something?"

"I didn't say I would give anyone a blowjob."

"You implied it."

"How did I imply it?" She smirked.

"You know, with a look." He mimicked the suggestive smirk she had shown them earlier.

"What am I implying now?" She took two fingers of one hand and put them entirely in her mouth, slowly sliding them out while staring directly at him. It was very dirty - a gesture on the brink of giving boners to the guy and all his friends that witnessed it. When her fingers were completely out of her mouth again, all of her fingers aside from the middle one were bent: she was flipping him off.

"Fucking bitch," he shouted as she swiftly turned on her heels and left the shop.

The wind outside blew her shirt-dress up slightly as she walked around with her items. She stood at the bus stop; impervious to the waiting adults that gawked at her scantily clad body. Never one to give a flying fuck, she boldly stared right back at anyone who dared to keep on looking. As expected, none could withstand more than a few seconds of direct eye contact. When the bus arrived she made sure to get on first, giving them a good view of what they had been judging. She was sure that she saw a jealous wife angrily nudge one of the male onlookers. Effy internally laughed. _Bet he's already cheating on you._

She had a rather depressing outlook on love. Her parents had gone through a messy divorce when her mother cheated on her father with his boss. Her mother tried explaining that there was not exactly something wrong with their marriage that had made her cheat, there was just some element of adrenaline rush - something that accompanies new love and fades with old - missing. Effy figured that was probably why she herself was more of a-let's-fuck-and-skip-the-after-cuddling kind of girl - always looking for an adventure instead of a relationship that could deprive her of sexual freedom. Boring relationships could lead to all sorts of heartache. Furthermore, Effy felt bad for her father, missed him, and did not want to hurt someone like her mother had. Effy had never had a boyfriend. Not even friends with benefits. She liked her sex with random unknown individuals and with as little shared information and attachment potential as possible. She could understand Naomi's resistance to befriend anyone that could get attached. At least they had each other. There were no romantic feelings, or even sexual ones, to muck things up. Not that Effy had not mentally considered Naomi once or twice for a casual, drunk shag. Her friend was gorgeous and there was no denying it.

The bus stopped in front of the flat complex, where she got off and headed indoors. Naomi lived on the third floor. They both hated having to climb the steps. Aside from clubbing it was the best exercise Effy got every week. She figured anything would help combat the damage she was doing to her lungs as she pulled out a fag and smoked it. Before pulling a key out of her small bra and opening the door to the single-flat, she grabbed Naomi's mail. The blonde had given her a house key a year ago when Effy spent most nights platonically in her bed, with nowhere else to go.

She set the envelopes on the counter and walked into the bedroom. Clothes were still sprawled out everywhere. Effy took some hangers from the closet and started cleaning up the mess. At some point she had turned on music with Naomi's stereo to a decent volume, which a sleepy Naomi blockaded out with pillows. Naomi was always very stubborn about sleeping late into the morning, especially after being awake late into the evening.

When Effy finished being helpful, ensuring there were no clothes on the floor anymore, she sat on the side of the bed with the Advil and water bottles in hand. She took a few pills herself before beginning her monthly (give or take a week, depending on Naomi's willingness to go out) ritual. "Naomi, time to get up. It's three in the afternoon. We have things to talk about."

There was a muffled groan from beneath the pillow. Effy saw Naomi's knuckles turn white as they clutched the pillow for dear life, as though she expected Effy to take it away. Instead, Effy took away the blanket. Naomi stubbornly resisted uncovering her face, even though she was wide-awake now; the blonde was going to pretend she could still sleep more.

"I have pills."

Another grunt came from beneath the pillow, which may have actually had meaning. Effy was not going to accept any muffled conversation anyway.

"And water."

One hand released the pillow and opened expectantly. Naomi always expected to get what she wanted. The other arm wrapped around the pillow to secure it so her single-handed grip was no weaker.

"No. It's a bright and shiny day, if you want these pills, you have to come out."

"Bright and shiny is exactly why I'm staying under the pillow. Don't you know how hangovers work?" Naomi grunted, annoyed. She had spoken louder so the muffling wouldn't be so bad.

"Come on, Naomi," Effy said, with a bubbly tone that was unusual for her apathetic personality.

"Why are you so cheery?" Naomi finally came out. The oddness of Effy's behavior had intrigued her enough. "My head's fucking killing me."

No response other than a shrug. Effy gave her the pills and water, which Naomi took immediately as she squinted in the lighting.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because we are friends," Effy sighed.

Naomi felt guilty, not realizing that Effy's sigh was not directed toward her, "I'm sorry I wasn't around when Katie bitched at you last night. I swear I would have punched her in the motherfucking boob if I had been."

"I know. Don't worry about it. I did not bother trying to find you because you had not finished your night's goal yet."

"Oh, what? Being distracted?" Effy nodded to answer Naomi's question. "I never reached that goal anyway. In fact I ran into the fucking problem itself. You should have gotten me."

"I know - about the 'problem.'"

"Look, I know you're really intuitive and observant and shit, but how could you possibly know; I haven't told you anything."

"I saw where you went during the party before I left. And I saw the 'problem' at the bar, _after _I left."

"What? Why was she at the bar? There was a party with loads of alcohol already in her flat."

"If you want the details, you should ask _her." _

"Effy, tell me."

"There's nothing to tell, we didn't talk." Effy was serious; not that she would have shared the information with Naomi anyway, when she thought Naomi hearing it directly from the source would be of benefit.

"Was she alright?"

"Ask _her," _Effy repeated. Only this time, she held out Naomi's phone, already open to Emily's number.

"What the fuck, Effy?! You went through my phone?!" Naomi was easily pissed by invasions of privacy. Their friendship did not have many boundaries but they still existed.

"I borrowed it to text my Mum and tell her I was alright 'cause I lost mine last night. I happened to see Emily's number in there." Effy held out the phone firmly. "Call her." Naomi had entered the number into her mobile the night Emily handed the digits to her on scrap paper. She had stared at it before, internally debating whether or not to text it; ultimately, she decided to withhold texting and to put her mind to rest by going right to bed.

"What do I say?" Naomi sighed.

"What _normal_ people do - start with 'hi,'" Effy smirked.

**Author's Note: **I'm still two chapters ahead of you guys, but they both need to be edited. My editor is on vacation but they should continue to be up on a weekly basis. Thanks everyone! Review and let me know how you feel!


	5. Chapter 5: Story of Glory

**Author's Note: **Thanks so much to the readers and reviewers! The notes you leave are wonderful. Here's a long chapter for you.

Chapter Five: Story of Glory

Naomi took the phone from Effy's hand and leaned against the bedframe. After staring at the screen for a few minutes, Naomi looked to the ceiling. She was going over all the potential outcomes of texting Emily in her mind. Her thoughts were quite exaggerated; she imagined herself being proposed to after a simple text, which shocked her. She reflexively held her left hand, the one resisting the imaginary engagement ring, protectively. _Whoa there. It's just a text message. Stop overreacting. Besides, why would Emily propose to me? She's a girl. She's not gay. Even if she were, well, I'm not gay. I like boys. I mean I've had boyfriends before and they were... okay._

Effy shook her head at her friend's visible over-thinking. "I'll just leave you for a bit and pick up some food. Your fridge is empty." Effy had checked it earlier for something to bring Naomi - before she insisted that Naomi wake up.

"I have leftover pizza."

"I threw it out. It looked old." Effy was indifferent to Naomi's attitude.

"It was from last week. I was planning on having it." Naomi was feigning annoyance at Effy because it was another way to not frustrate herself by thinking what to text Emily. _Forever finding distractions. _Naomi had not actually planned on eating the pizza, which was honestly closer to being a month old. Her fridge was practically empty because she ate lunch and dinner most often at the university cafeteria. Having breakfast was also mostly out of the question if skipping it allowed time for extra sleep or a relaxing smoke before classes started. The pizza was something she had bought when the cafeteria was closed for some maintenance.

"Yeah? Well it's in the rubbish, if you still want it."

"No." Naomi grimaced. "You owe me breakfast."

"I _did_ just say I would go pick up food. And by the way, it's not called _breakfast_ anymore when you wake up at three in the afternoon." Effy got up and left the room, rolling her eyes. "I'll be back later. Clean yourself up - you smell." Effy called out before the front door sounded shut.

Naomi raised her arms and smelled herself. _It's not that bad. What do you expect after a party? _She had almost protested Effy leaving and insisting on going without food, just so she would not be left alone with her phone and uncontrollable thoughts. "Looks like it's just you and me," she muttered looking at the mobile. _Why the fuck not? _Naomi decided maybe texting Emily would be the only proof that her imagination was completely unrealistic and implausible. _Everything under control - we are just friends, if anything. _

Unfortunately, it took Naomi thirty minutes just to decide what to say:

**Heeey Emily. This is Naomi by the way. **_Stupid. _Delete.

**Hi, what's up? Last night was fun. xoxo Naomi **_Too much. Too happy. Total sodding overkill. Damn it. Cliché as ever._ Delete.

**Last night was eventful. -Naomi **_Understatement. Should not have left Emily there. Probably. _Delete.

**Sorry I (Naomi) left. **_No, that looks stupid. _Delete.

**I like butterflies. **_Random is charming, isn't it? Ugh, no. _Delete.

**What the fuck am I doing? **Delete.

**Effy made me do this. **_Right?_ Delete.

**Nice weather today. It's Naomi **_Really, the weather...?_ Delete.

**HELP ALIENS ARE TAKING OVER MY BRAIN! AHHHH! **_Seriously, what the fuck is this anymore?_ Delete.

**Hi **She had hit send quickly, before any second-guessing could arise - not wanting to dwell on what to text anymore. She released a sigh of relief. _Following Effy's advice of starting with "hi" can't possibly go wrong. Effy being wrong would be like, against nature or something._

But a second later her heart raced and she panicked. _FUCKING IDIOT. SHE DOESN'T HAVE YOUR NUMBER. Should I send another text with my name? Why the fuck did I not write my fucking name like in all the other ones?! No; two texts sounds desperate. Right? No? Yes? Shit, why did Effy leave? I'll just let Emily ask who it is. Then she'll text back for sure. Fuck. Maybe she won't because it's an unknown number - should have given it to her when we studied. Damn it. Fucking shit. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Whatever. Maybe it will be good if she doesn't text me back. At least I sent something. Now I don't have to do anything. I'm free... _or so she thought.

She checked the time and figured Effy would be out for a while. As a best friend, Effy was smart enough to know that Naomi would take forever to send the text. She would also have figured out some way to kill the time before Naomi finished getting ready for what was left of the day. So the blonde rolled out of bed - she slept in the nude - and walked into her bathroom. She rolled her eyes at her pathetic self when she walked out of the bathroom, grabbed her phone, and went back in the bathroom. She placed the phone on the counter and examined herself in the mirror.

Naomi's hair was a mess and the makeup Effy had helped her with was smeared across her face; she definitely looked as though she had spent the night partying and in desperate need of a shower. Twisting the hot water knob almost as high as it went, she inhaled the steam that started to cloud the bathroom. She checked her phone. **3:51 pm No new messages **_Ugh. How long is she going to take?_She watched as the mirror fogged up, making her reflection nothing but a blur. She turned back around and stepped into the pouring water. Her aching muscles would have cried out in pleasure if they could. Instead, she hummed to herself and washed away the remnants of last evening.

Chills crept up her back and arms as she stepped out of the shower. Before grabbing her towel from the hook she pressed the button to turn her phone screen on. **4:08 pm No new messages **_Fucking hell - that only killed like twenty minutes. What will I do now? _She tried to dry herself off slowly but that did not work very well - the steam had faded away and it was too cold to not get dressed quickly. She picked out some grey sweatpants, an old cozy t-shirt with a pig on it, and a black hoodie. **4:11 pm No new messages **_That was only three minutes?! Damn it. _

Effy arrived in good time with a small bag in her hand. "You look great." She amusedly raised an eyebrow in Naomi's direction.

"Fuck off. I'm comfy."

"Does comfy Naomi want some food?" Effy lightly waved the bag in front of Naomi and then placed it on the kitchen table.

"I repeat, fuck off."

"Not even a thank you?"

"Do I have to repeat myself a third time?"_ Why does everyone like pissing me off so much?_

"So I take it Emily hasn't texted you back yet."

_Bloody hell, do you always have to be so intuitive?! _Naomi responded by glaring obviously at her message-less mobile, sitting down at the table, and opening the bag. "Thanks," she mumbled as she pulled out a salad and sandwich. "You know, you could pretend like there isn't some deeper reason to why I'm angry_ every_ fucking time I'm angry." She aggressively forked her salad and bit into her sandwich - ever so graceful. _I don't give a fuck. _

Effy just shrugged and left Naomi to eat alone. The weather was nice enough to sit on the porch peacefully as the birds chirped. She was so deep in thought and spaced out that she did not notice when Naomi joined her. Only the smoke from the blonde's newly lit fag caught her attention, enticing her to light one of her own. "I hate girls," Naomi said as she exhaled.

"No - you hate waiting."

"What's the difference if it's a girl I'm waiting for?"

Effy smirked. "It's not just any girl you're waiting for, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Denial.

"You have never been this high strung over _me_ not sending you a prompt response."

"Jealous?" Deflect.

"No." Effy's tone was brutally honest but Naomi took no offence.

"Well, you don't count." Naomi was equally honest - Effy was not offended either. Blunt honesty was the foundation of their friendship.

_It started nine years ago, when they were eleven. Naomi had moved into a new home with only her mother, during the summer. They had been living there for only two months before the numerous strangers started coming and going. Her mother, Gina, was a big hippie that insisted there was some greater reward in making their home communal. Little Naomi had argued the ONLY reward in having all the extra mouths to feed was the decrease in time that it took to get to the special prize at the bottom of the cereal box. But even that seemed to be a problem when some bearded dumbass they called Jesus poured milk over a miniature toy robot and ate it. "I thought it was some sort of candy... at least it didn't taste too bad," he had said. That is when Naomi decided she was practically being forced to rudely shove her hand into the brand new cereal boxes and take the promised inedible surprises out. Naomi was immune to the women in her house that bickered about patriarchal bananas when they were not lecturing Naomi about feminism and manners. _

_One morning the blonde little girl woke up to a dirty sock that was not her own somehow in her mouth. That was the first time she yelled at her mum for their communal lifestyle choice. Upset by the gentle tone her mother used to try and calm her down, Naomi grabbed her trinket collection, placed in an old shoebox, and stormed out. She went to the nearby park and opened the box, looking at all the things that belonged to her - things she did not have to share with the annoying people she was forced to live with. She felt calmer by herself, inside the plastic playground bubble protecting her from the rain, with little circular windows. _

_Another girl climbed inside and sat across from her. "These are mine. Don't touch them." Naomi pulled the box to herself protectively. She remained skeptical even when the skinny girl said, "I don't want to touch them." Naomi resumed counting her trinkets, every so often looking up at the girl who was silently watching her. "Aren't you bored?" Naomi asked. "No." The girl shrugged to further convey her indifference. Something about being sheltered from the rain together made Naomi decide to lower some personal barriers. "My name is Naomi." "I'm Effy." "I hate that my mum lets strangers live in our house." "I think my mum is having an affair." Silence followed with a feeling of mutual acceptance. Their minimally vocal time in the bubble became an almost nightly thing for the rest of the summer - each of them escaping the world for different reasons. When school started and the playground became more popular, together they intimidated and scared away any new kid that tried to invade their territory. "Go away," Naomi would firmly say as Effy coldly stared them down. They each smirked triumphantly, happy they had control over at least one thing in their lives. _

They finished smoking in their habitual silence. Naomi put out her fag a little early, eager to check her phone again. They stepped back inside and plopped onto her brown pleather couch. The blonde checked her phone from where she had left it on a cushion. **4:34 pm No new messages **_Ughhhhhhhhh. _Naomi was slightly startled when Effy abruptly got off the couch and walked into her kitchen. She waited curiously until Effy returned with an empty cookie jar. Effy lifted the top, held out the bottom to Naomi, and waited expectantly. Naomi checked her phone one last time before surrendering it into the jar.

"You're only making yourself crazy. Emily will text you when she's not busy." Effy put the jar on the small corner table next to the couch and covered it with the top. "Get on with your day."

"Alright. I suppose that would be the better thing to do..." Naomi looked at the jar, willing it with her eyes to vibrate and alert her to a new message.

"I put it on silent. Give yourself a specific time to wait until - maybe tomorrow morning - before checking it again."

"Ughhhhh, but that's _so_ long. How about eight?"

Effy did not answer - just folded her arms.

"Okaaay, fine! Nine pm."

"Naomi, it's _your_ phone. _You_ decide when. I'm just trying to help."

"Fine. Fine. _Fiiiiiiine."_

"Well, seeing as you're all sorted now, I'm off to see Cook. Stay strong Naomi."

"What the fuck? After last night?" Naomi was baffled, insinuating that Cook's behavior had been unacceptable. Then again, Effy's shags supposedly did not depend on anything emotional.

"Why not?" Effy seemed careless. Over the years she had perfected her front. Naomi knew better than to keep asking questions - it was not as if Effy would answer them anyway.

"Alright. Bye, then." The front door closed behind Effy. Naomi debated what to do for a bit, tempted to check her phone. _Maybe if I go out and leave my phone here... _It had been a few days since she had gone out for a morning run. She decided that even though it was late in the day, it would be the perfect thing to do. She concentrated on her breathing and pacing as she ran through the forest behind her flat. Naomi knew the area well, having spent so much time exploring it several years ago, when she moved in. When she finished her run, she was dripping with sweat, filled with the happy gratification from intensely exercising. She wiped away the beads of sweat along her hairline with the back of her hand. _Taking another shower should kill some time. _The symptoms of her hangover had, for the most part, subsided.

To distract herself from thinking about her phone while she showered she made a mental list of things to do. However, the first thing Naomi did after getting dressed in a fresh pair of clothes was check her phone, even though it definitely was not nine yet. There was a surprise note in the jar; in Effy's handwriting it said: "_pathetic."_Effy knew very well that Naomi struggled with self-control. Naomi disregarded the note and checked anyway.**6:22 pm No new messages **_Fucking hell. _Not wanting to completely lose the good mood that had developed during her run, she chose to no longer cheat - to wait until nine to check it like she had planned with Effy.

Naomi remembered the mental to-do list she had made in the shower and started with her first task: finish the SlutWalk article that she had started in the coffee shop on Friday. She closed the jar and turned on her stereo to some indie music. Her notebook and pencils were in her backpack on a hook beside the entrance. She grabbed them and sat at the kitchen table. The music helped her switch into work-mode. Naomi had difficulty writing for a while because she kept glancing up at the clock but once she turned her chair to face away from it, the article began to practically write itself. Journalism came naturally to Naomi. When she finished the article, she got her laptop, typed it up, and submitted it to the editor.

The math exam was not for another two days - Wednesday morning - so she put off studying. Instead, she turned off her music, moved to the couch, and turned on the TV for some mindless watching. It took her flipping three times through the hundred basic channels for her to settle on the _Game Show Network_. The host of the show was introducing the two families playing Family Feud. Naomi particularly enjoyed giving her own answers to the questions as if she were a contestant anytime she watched the show.

**"Name something that gets passed around?" **the host asked into his mic.

The first player shouted,**"Uhhh... a ball!" **

"Herpes!" Naomi answered, taking pride in her ability to make herself laugh.

**"What is something you put in your mouth but don't swallow?"**

"Oh my fucking god. Now that's just beautiful." Naomi cringed at the thought of a blowjob.

**"GUM!" **_Oh, so innocent. _It was quite obvious that several of the other contestants stifling their laughter were thinking the same dirty thing as Naomi.

**"Sarah, tell me, when people mention The Big One, what are they talking about?" **

"Is_ everything _on this show about dicks?" Naomi wondered out loud.

**"God?" **

The show had eliminated one team and was up to the speed round. **"We asked one hundred men, to name a part of their body that is bigger than it was when they were sixteen?" **

"WHO WRITES THESE QUESTIONS?!"

**"A penis?"**

"OH MY GOD, SHE SAID IT! SHE FUCKING SAID IT! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Naomi started laughing hysterically until she realized how depressing it would be if her happiest-day-ever statement were true.

When the Family Feud marathon ended she checked the time on the cable box clock, **8:28 pm**. _Shit, how many episodes have I watched? _Uninterested in the next show starting, Naomi turned off the TV. She then turned her music back on and cleaned up the loft. Naomi was desperate to busy herself with something. Looking around, she zoned in on her extensive DVD collection and ended up organizing them alphabetically. For a while her floor was littered with boxes and discs that had fallen out of their cases. She had been so consumed with organizing while dramatically singing the music, occasionally throwing in dance moves, that she had not noticed when the clock struck past nine. She laid on her once-again empty floor when she finished and closed her eyes. It had been a long day - probably because she spent most of it watching the time - or trying not to.

Naomi opened her eyes and immediately turned to face the clock. **11:13 pm **_Oops, must've fallen asleep. _The soft indie music was still playing in the background.She sat up, regretting ever having lain down. Her back felt rather sore. When she managed to stand, she walked over to the jar on the table. Slightly nervous she lifted the top and pulled out her phone. **Four new messages **_FUCK YEAH! _

**Effy: 9:08pm: did she txt u?**

**Effy: 10:10pm: since u havent txted me, i take it she hasnt...**

**Effy: 10:12pm: srry babes**

**Effy: 10:13pm: uve still got me ;)**

Naomi's smile transformed into an upset frown. She checked her text inbox again, hoping her phone had glitched and that Emily had actually responded. _Fuck. _With no response there she threw her phone angrily at the couch and turned out the lights. As she climbed into bed to sleep she fought her sad thoughts with angry ones. _WHY DO I EVEN CARE? It's not like she was my friend anyway. Nothing gained, nothing lost, right? I'm just going to stop caring. The disappointment is not worth it. _Naomi kept flashing back to the good moments she had with Emily and evaluating whether they had actually been genuine. _Well, she didn't me text back, so I suppose not. _She pulled the covers over her head as if to silence her thoughts and waited for sleep to overtake her. Angry feelings had faded and morphed into a sad feeling unique to Naomi just before she finally fell asleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Emily left Freddie for work after their cuddling session. Going to work did not bother her because she figured it would take her mind off the recent troublesome social events. So far there was Naomi, Katie, and Freddie to deal with. At least, after their talk, Emily no longer had to worry about making up with Freddie. Either way, she planned on buying him a fancy lighter she saw at a nearby corner shop as an apologetic present.

Wanderer's Teashop was a special place, generally occupied with a crowd labeled as hipster. Despite the occasionally negative connotation of being a hipster, Emily liked the people there because they seemed laid back and frequently introduced her to cool music. Her co-workers were also pretty awesome. The job included cooking specialty crepes, making salads, brewing tea, and working the cash register with an eclectic girl named Pandora Moon. Everyone called her "Panda." The nickname suited her because she was every bit as cute as a real panda.

Panda initially came off childish, with her blonde pigtails and her use of made-up words, as well as her naivety. One would think such a personality would be annoying but Panda somehow pulled it off as endearing.

Emily parked her moped in back and slipped on her blue apron; the advantage to being such a laid-back place was that no real uniform existed. The owner of the shop, Jeremy, was a university alumnus who only ever wore Hawaiian shirts, cutoff jeans, and flip-flops. Jeremy waved to Emily from his office. He was leaning with his feet propped up on his desk, probably procrastinating paper work. "Hey Emily, Panda's already up front. Have fun today!" Emily smiled and shook her head at how odd and lucky it was that she had such an upbeat boss. Many wondered how the shop was still running without anyone so serious in charge. Fortunately, everything business-related smoothly fell into place at the right times.

"Hey Panda!"

Pigtails swished around as Panda turned her head to see Emily. "HAPPY SUNDAY EMILY!" Bubbly as ever, Panda excitably continued, "I've got a feelin' today's goin' to be the top banana!"

"The top banana, ey?" _Never heard of that one._

"Yeah, Em! The cat's pajamas! A chicken on a worm! The snail's tails! "

"That's great, Panda. But I think you better pay attention to the pan or it's going to be all fire and no crepe." Emily chuckled. Panda's happy attitude was positively influential on the work environment.

"Righto! That's probably best." Panda turned back around and flipped the crepe. The delicious smell of it combined with various herbal teas circulated the shop. She covered the crepe in strawberries, whipped cream, and maple syrup. "One fantasti-magical crepe ready!" Panda shouted as she delivered the warm plate to a customer. "Here ya go, Joe!"

A wide smile spread across Joe's face. "Thanks, Panda! Mmm, this looks delicious!"

"Bon appetit!" Panda said as she returned back to the counter.

Emily and Panda had worked there for two years so far and had memorized the names of all their regular customers. The two girls also had a game of giving secret names and making up stories about everyone to entertain themselves on the longer days. Panda, of course, insisted that the new names rhyme. So there was Paige the Mage who always had big books that they decided were full of spells. They imagined that she came from the land of "Gardenia," where she was teaming up with good unicorns to fight off evil talking vegetables - the backstories were most often mythical or whimsical.

There was Sam-ster the Bubblegum Master, a fellow that usually showed up in an orange top hat and bowtie, unintentionally resembling the original Willy Wonka. He supposedly owned a factory filled with dwarfs that made rainbow gum capable of curing cancer. Sometimes Panda would give him some complimentary pastries as if he legitimately had honorably cured cancer.

A significant portion of their days was spent coming up with stories, even for the people who were first-timers.

Jeremy popped his head out into the employee's only hallway. "Hey Emily, Can you take care of the restocking? David called in sick today and I have a meeting at the bank in a few. The delivery should be here any minute."

"Not a problem, boss." Emily threw away the paper towel she used to wipe the counters. The shop was usually not so crowded during the afternoon, so it was fine for her to leave Panda alone at the front. When they started the job they were trained in all areas of the business so she knew exactly how to manage the restock. She walked through the hallway to the back door - the quickest pathway to the back car lot. Several months ago she would have occupied the waiting time by smoking. She had only started smoking four years ago to relieve some of her stress until one of her thoughtful coworkers had introduced her to a kickboxing class at the local gym. Emily much preferred the sport to the expensive addiction. She had already developed great strength and stamina because her dad owned a gym and insisted on raising daughters that could protect themselves. The consequences of smoking interfered with her workouts more than she would have liked. So instead of smoking, Emily leaned against the outside wall of the shop and counted cars.

Twenty-two cars later, a white van pulled up. Emily did not recognize the driver from any of the past deliveries she had helped with. An African man stepped out of the van with one of the brightest smiles Emily had ever seen. His smile switched into a look of confusion when his eyes met Emily's. "Excuse me," _wow, he's got quite the French accent, _"do you work at" he checked some papers from his dashboard then looked back up, "Wanderer's Teashop?"

Emily smiled and stood up from the wall. "Yeah."

"Great! I will bring to you the boxes." He smiled sheepishly and added, "Forgive my English, it is not so good."

"You're doing fine," Emily chuckled lightly.

The driver opened the back of the van and started stacking cardboard boxes on the ground. Emily was slightly concerned about this new guy, wondering if he knew what he was doing, taking so many boxes out at once. Just before he lifted a stack of six heavy boxes, he looked up at Emily's face. "Do not worry, in my village I had to carry too-fat sheep from the fields to our table. _This _is nothing." Sure enough, he lifted all the boxes without so much as a grunt.

_Wow... _Emily ran to open the door for him. "You can just set them over there." She pointed to the storage room with the light on. He placed them carefully on the floor. "Thanks."

"You are welcome. I will get the other boxes." He gestured to the door as if to politely excuse himself. Emily returned to the cash register to help Panda, after propping the doors open for him. He took several more trips until the room looked half-full. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face - some of the boxes had been quite heavy. The driver shut the storage room door and walked to the front to let Emily know he was finished.

Just as he walked into the end of the hallway he bumped into Panda, "I am so sorry!" He held his hands out in case the girl needed something to hold to steady herself.

"Bloomin' 'eck! You're like, made out of rocks or something!" Panda's eyes opened widely in wonder at the form standing in front of her. She snapped out of her shock, unharmed yet surprised. "Uhh, my boss says customers aren't supposed to be back here."

Emily surprised them, without noticing that they had just been staring at each other for a moment. "Panda, this is the new delivery guy." The guy smiled sweetly and held out his hand.

"My name is Thomas Tomone. So glad to meet you. And I'm sorry again, for bumping into you. Are you okay?" He looked about the same age as them.

_You're so polite. _"I'm abso-freakin-lutely wonderful_," _she was completely charmed by him. "I'm single - I mean, I'm Pandora, but you can call me Panda."

"And I'm Emily." Emily finally caught on to what was going on and grew excited at the thought of pushing them together. "_So, _Thomas! How long have you been in Bristol?"

He looked away from Panda for a moment to answer Emily. "Not so long. I came here from Congo to work. My mother plans to come soon with my little siblings."

"Wow, that's _so_ cool. My Mum's from some boring town - I don't even remember it's name - I think it rhymes with alligator - but we always have to go back there to visit my Nan anyway. My Nan is crazy rich though. And she always feeds us tea and scones. She's a bit na-na-wally-wallah-goo-goo in the head, I think. You should come though! You would probably love it! _Everyone_ loves my Nan. Not that I know you - _but _I would like to._"_ Panda was practically drooling on him - Emily withheld a laugh.

"That would be most satisfactory." He sounded sincere.

Emily could not believe, or rather, she could and just did not want to, that Panda just invited a stranger to visit her family. Emily quickly thought of how to make the situation more practical. "How about we _all_ hang out sometime? Get to know each other first?"

"Yes, I agree." Thomas pulled out a card from one of the many pockets he had - he was wearing several windbreakers and hoodies - probably not used to the weather in Bristol yet. "I work at night too, at a club. You ladies should come. You won't have to wait in line. Bring friends."

Before Panda could say something, Emily took the card and replied, "Sounds like fun. We'll see if we can make it." She left the two of them alone for a moment, now that she had sealed the deal.

"Great." He looked at his watch. "I must be going to deliver more of these boxes. I hope to see you again, Panda."

"I hope to see you again soon, Thomas!" Panda called out as he started to leave. As soon as the back door shut, everyone in the room started clapping. Panda turned to Emily confused, "What are they clappin' at, Ems?" That was the funny thing about the shop - since they had become so close to the customers and gotten to know them personally, when the customers witnessed something personal happen to them, they reacted. Emily was used to it - every now and then getting a secret thumbs up from a regular when a new cute girl was flirting with her at the register.

"You and Thomas." Emily gave her an approving look.

"Well he's abso-flippin-lutely gorgeoussss," she sighed with hope. But then her eyebrows furrowed in sadness, "Do you think he's just trying to get into my box?"

"No Panda, he was too polite for that. Let's just take it one day at a time."

"Can we go to the club and see him? I wonder if he's a DJ. Or maybe he's the bouncer. Or maybe he dresses in lady clothes and dances like that one ti-"

"Yes, we can go, Panda. And I _don't_ think he'll be sporting a dress." Emily chuckled.

"Oh Emily, he's so beautiful - I bet he could _still _look dreamy in a dress."

For the next couple hours, work went the same as normal - cleaning and cooking throughout. Every now and then Panda would say something about Thomas; "His name sounds magical and we did not even have to make a story about him. Thomas; Tomone; Tommy; Tom-o; Tom-tom; Tomoneeee; Tommmone." She definitely liked saying his name. "If we made a story about Thomas, I bet he would be a strong, handsome knight."

They both abruptly stopped with their busywork when a loud and obnoxious male entered the shop. "What's a man of_ incredible _charm_, _like m'self_-_" he looked to the girl he had his arms draped over then back up to Emily and Panda,"-got to do to get some decent lager around here? Am I right, ladies?" The girl was practically drooling on him as if enchanted by some douchebag pheromone.

**Author's Note: **As per usual, I'm a little self-conscious whether or not this was actually funny to anyone but myself so let me know what you think - favorite moments? Jokes? Characters? Descriptions? I appreciate it. Have a lovely day!


	6. Chapter 6: Birds and Turds

Chapter Six: Birds and Turds

He sauntered across the room to the counter, "Well, if it ain't Twin-y from the party, what'chu doin' here?"

"It's Emily. Not 'Twin-y.' And I work here." Emily sighed; it was this kind of person that made her question any job requiring interaction with customers. _Stupid tosser. _She blamed Katie for the annoying loser that recognized her."What can I get for you, Cock?" She did not even notice the slip until _after_ she had said his name improperly.

"Oi! That hurt my feelings, babes, but lucky for you, I'll forgive ya if ya remember it's Cook from now on. How about two beers for me and a lite beer for the pretty lady?" Emily looked at the girl, who was obviously not Katie - _she_ _must've moved on to the next tosser. _

The girl had long blonde extensions with some of the tips dyed black. "No, really, I don't thi-"

"O'cmon. Live a lit'le," Cook pushed.

Emily rescued the girl. She did not hesitate to talk in a demeaning tone; "we don't serve beer here. It's Wanderer's _Tea _Shop. We make tea."

"What kind of pussy shit is that?" He furrowed his eyebrows disappointedly.

The other customers were getting visibly agitated by Cook; some shuffled in their seats uncomfortably, some stared at him in shock of his rudeness, and others tried ignoring him by turning up the volume of the underground music in their headphones. Emily too, had lost all patience for his behavior and excused herself. "I'm sorry, I have to grab something from the back."

"Now?" He asked confused.

"Yep, now. Panda, can you help him?" Emily moved to the back where she could not be seen but could still listen in, in case she needed to return to assist in kicking him out of the shop.

"Sure, Emily!" Panda put down the dishes she had been cleaning in the sink and dried her hands on her apron. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Have ya got any decent _food_ in this place, seeing as there aren't any quality drinks?"

"We have some of the most delightful crepes in all of Bristol!" She smiled. Panda's naivety deflected his obnoxiousness.

"The fuck is a crepe?"

The girl beside him was started to shrug off his arm a little, creating some distance. She was definitely embarrassed by all the negative attention he was drawing in. He did not seem to notice or care about anyone else.

"Well it's, uhh" she pointed to one of the plates she was going to bring out after dealing with him, "this!"

"So a fancy pancake, eh?"

"Sort of. I guess. But they'll make your taste buds go bonkers with happiness - they're ridiculously delicious for being so simple." She giggled.

"Alright, I'll have five."

"Five crepes? Wow, your stomach must be raging," Panda exclaimed.

"That's nothing. This 'ol thing once demolished twelve pints of lager, a whole chocolate cake, and several pizzas in just one evening." The girl just grimaced in disgust while Cook grinned and rubbed his belly in sheer pride.

"Alright, that'll be thirteen pounds." Panda moved to the cash register. He handed her a note and some change after searching his pockets. Panda counted it. "You're short two pounds."

Cook instantly looked at the girl. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Oh c'mon, Brandy... Sandy..." She glared at Cook angrily through slitted eyes. "Mandy? YEAH! Mandy, tha's it. C'mon help a man out. I totally made you scream my name earlier for a handy. it's the least you could do."

Her cheeks reddened at what everyone had just heard him say, but she was too angry to be embarrassed. She slapped him across the face. "Baby-dick-sized tosser! And stormed out.

"Oi! My dick is man-sized! And you're handy was the worst in all of Bristol, just so you know, darling! A fuckin' gimp with no hands could probably give a better handy than you!" he shouted.

The bell rang as the door slammed shut. Emily suddenly appeared beside Panda. Before she could say anything a smart grin appeared on Cook's face. "Heard about my man-sized dick and now you want some, eh?"

Emily used all her self-control to withhold from gagging. She could not think of anything worse than sex, or any physical contact, for that matter, with Cook. "I'm sorry but we don't tolerate the kind of disturbance you are creating in Wanderer's peaceful environment. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

His face reddened much like the girl from before, in anger. "You can't do that! I've got rights!"

"Not in a privately owned store. You broke the rules and now you have to leave. Get out." Emily looked a bit frightening and was secretly nervous because Cook seemed hotheaded, unpredictable, and careless, but she kept her voice firm and stood with her arms crossed behind the counter.

"I'm not going to fight with no girl." He turned to leave.

"That's fucking right you aren't. I'd kick your fucking ass." For a second, Cook looked tempted to take her up on the challenge for a second, but then he just shook his head and laughed as he stepped out of the shop. He called out, "I'll be around, if you ever change your mind. They all come to the Cookie-monster in the end. The door closed and the shop was completely silent until his figure was no longer visible from the windows.

Many of the customers cheered and got up to put generous tips in the jar on the front counter. Some muttered about Cook together for a while before things settled down. "What a psycho," Panda mumbled. "You totally scared him away, Emily!" She raised her hand in Emily's direction. They high-fived light-heartedly and returned to work. The rest of the day and evening went uneventfully by comparison. Jeremy returned only to ask them to close up for the night. It was not out of the ordinary for them to do so - Jeremy had a wife and two little toddlers waiting for him at home. None of the trustworthy employees minded because he was so nice otherwise.

The last customer shuffled out of the door as they locked the door at midnight. "Have a good night!" Panda shouted, putting the "Closed" sign in the entrance's window. They started the clean up routine by putting the leftover pastries and ingredients into refrigeration or the trash. They washed the dishes, emptied the registers, put the money into an envelope inside Jeremy's safe to be banked the next day. Emily was in the employee's backroom. She had her phone in her hand, intending to check it before taking off her apron. Just before she could open any new messages, she heard a loud thump from another room. "You okay, Panda?" She put her mobile back in her bag and walked in the direction of the sound.

"Whoopsie." Emily saw Panda among a few boxes and some scattered packages of tea.

"Here," Emily held out her hand and helped Panda to her feet. Together they cleaned up the mess and put everything in its proper place. They put their aprons in the hamper, grabbed their belongings, and locked the back door. "Goodnight, Panda."

"Sweet dreams, Emily." Panda walked to her car and Emily walked to her moped.

Emily put on her helmet then remembered she had new messages on her phone. She pulled it out of her bag and was so excited to see it was from Naomi that she made a "yes!" gesture, making a fist and moving her arm downward, toward her body. She accidentally dropped her phone. "FUCKING FUCK. Of course there'd be a fucking drain pipe fucking underneath me. Fucking god damn it."

Panda pulled up beside Emily, wondering what her friend was doing still not on her moped. The blonde rolled down her window to talk. "Everything alright, Emily?"

"No!" Emily groaned then added, "Well, yes, I'm fine. I just dropped my fucking phone in the drain. Didn't even get to read the message."

"Was it important?"

"No-well, yes. Kind of. I'm not sure."

A grin spread across Panda's face slowly but widely, "Was it a girl?" She drew out the sentence giddily.

"I don't know, it just said 'hi.'"

"Well, were you expecting any texts from an unknown number?"

"No-yes," The grin on Panda's face only got wider with Emily's answers changing. "Well, not like _that." _Panda did not look as though she believed Emily. Emily gave in and sighed, "_Okay._ I don't know. Maybe. It could have been this girl I study with."

"You study with a girl?!"

"Well, we studied once. And then she came to my house..."

"She came to your house?!"

"I didn't invite her, but yeah."

"Oh." Panda looked completely confused and disappointed.

"She was there for one of Katie's party. We talked though."

"Oh!" Panda smiled again. And Emily laughed at her friend's quick changes in emotions that adjusted to each new piece of information she gave.

"But now my phone is gone. If it was her... well, I have no way of contacting her."

"Oh." Sad tone again.

"Don't worry about it, Panda. I don't even know if she's, you know, like me."

"A muff-munchkin?"

Emily laughed. "Close - a muff-muncher. And yeah."

"Oh. Right. Well, who knows Emily? The world is a small place. Maybe she's your prince who will come and rescue you on a unicorn. Maybe she doesn't need a phone to find you. True love always finds a way."

Emily did not have the heart to tell her friend fairytales do not really exist. "Thanks, Panda. I'm sure you're right. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Panda said goodnight again and rolled up her windows then left. Emily got on her moped and drove home. She was tired of staying at Freddie's.

When she got home and she stopped the table. There was a poorly drawn picture of her and obviously Katie, judging by their similarity, holding hands. **I'm sorry. I love you. xoxo Katie** A small tear dripped down the side of Emily's face. It had been so long since she Katie had said that. She looked up and saw Katie sleeping on the couch. She figured that her twin had stayed up to wait for her. Emily walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Katie, wake up, let's get you into bed."

"Fuck off," Katie mumbled. But then her tired eyes shot open, "Emily, you're home!" She sat up sleepily and started talking so fast her twin could not understand her.

"Katie, slow down. I'm here, it's alright."

"Emily, please don't go. I've been such a horrible sister. I missed you so much."

"Jesus, I was only gone for a night."

"No, you're at Freddie's all the time. I'm all alone in this apartment most of the time." Katie sounded sad.

"But you're always with people. You're throwing parties." Emily argued.

"It's not the same. All they care about is popularity and alcohol. To them it doesn't matter if it's here or somewhere else, or if it's someone else throwing the parties. I miss having a sister that actually gives a shit about me, not just how good my parties are."

"Who says I give a shit about you?" Emily smirked but her tone wasn't mean.

"Hey, I'm trying to fucking apolo-." Before Katie could finish her sentence she was squeezed into a hug.

"I forgive you."

Katie wrapped her arms around Emily. They both missed being sisters very much. "Are you going to leave me too?" Katie sounded weak and scared because of how quietly she asked.

"Who left you?"

"Cook."

"Fucking bastard." Emily groaned. "Don't worry, I'm staying." They let go of each other and Emily handed Katie a tissue from the stand next to the couch. "For a bit."

**Author's Note: My favorite part was the "fancy pancakes" bit, but I want to hear about your favs. Glad we've got some closure on Emily and Katie but trust me, they still have plenty to work out. This story probably has the most drama out of any that I've written but I wanted it to be realistic - as far as time and situation. I hope that's being conveyed. SO let me know your favorite bits or any other comments you have below! Thanks for reading, everyone. **


	7. Chapter 7: Intelligently Moronic

**Author's Note: Skyblue - I felt kind of bad leaving it the way I did after your review so here's the reason for the anti-climax. I had to bring some things back down balance the high of this chapter out.**

Chapter Seven: Intelligently Moronic

The next two weeks went on no differently than any week before Naomi and Emily had met. Emily spent her days working at the teashop and Naomi spent hers writing at the coffee shop, when they were not in their respective classes.

It took Naomi less time to adapt to not seeing Emily ever again; at least, she denied herself the opportunity to dwell on the thought. Her schedule was so busy she hardly even had a chance to smoke. Naomi was reverting to her regular coping mechanism of acting as if nothing special had happened - blatantly arguing and belittling it the one time it was touched lightly by her concerned best friend. Effy sensed what was troubling the blonde but, as per usual, did not continue to push the subject.

Emily resented her new phone - the phone that lacked the message that could have changed her life in a way she had been waiting for, hopelessly. She tried to not think about the possibilities because it only put her in an awful mood. The regular customers had been tipping better to try and help her disposition. Her coworkers tried consoling her or avoiding her when she was just too grumpy to be bothered. Nobody was really capable of making the emptiness inside her soul vanish. Still, she did not want to accept why Naomi's disappearance had bothered her more than any average person's would have. Ultimately, she could not ignore her feelings and decided to give one last attempt at looking for Naomi. _Where to look though? _She did not share any classes - _OH FUCK. MATH! THE LOUNGE! _There was an exam Tuesday she had yet to study for; maybe Naomi would study in the lounge again.

But on Monday night, Emily was only met with disappointment. The blonde was not in sight. Naomi avoided anything that reminded her of the girl that kept popping into her mind when she wasn't focused on something, and that included the lounge room where they had their first actual conversation. Emily had given up completely and was hanging out with Freddie and JJ to try and distract herself when she could not avoid the topic anymore.

"Emily, you've been acting quite weird lately. Are you alright?" JJ asked when Freddie had left the room to use the bathroom. He did not want to bring it up in front of Freddie in case she was feeling sensitive about whatever it was.

"What?" Emily was confused at first; she had not expected JJ to be so in touch with her emotional cues. Then again, JJ probably focused on them more than anyone, if she thought about the reason why. After a moment she realized he was talking about her general moodiness regarding Naomi. "Oh, it's nothing."

"It would be an accurate generalization, I think, to say when girls say 'it's nothing,' that something is actually bothering them."

"Yeah, okay there's this girl from my math class. I think lost her number when I dropped my phone and now I don't think I'll ever see her again."

JJ started laughing hysterically.

"What?"

More laughter.

"You really don't know?"

"JJ, tell me." Emily pulled out her almost scarily serious tone of voice.

"Why don't you just go to class or meet her at the exam?"

"Are you shitting me? Why the fuck did I not think of that?!" Emily put her head into her hands and groaned. "I fucking hate math." JJ laughed again. When Emily was done groaning she looked up. "Thanks, Jay. I know it was obvious but sometimes I can be pretty fucking stupid."

"Oh, don't worry, Emily. It's pretty common for people to be so focused on something they don't even realize the simple answer right before them. Just the other day Freddie was searching for his phone and it was in his hand the whole time."

Freddie walked in to see both Emily and JJ laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You." Emily laughed.

"You told her about my phone mishap, didn't you?"

The only response was more laughter. JJ tried nodding.

"Yeah, well, you dropped your phone in a drain and I thought I lost mine - we're all having phone problems these days." He did not get upset at them for laughing at him and chuckled at himself.

Emily smiled to herself. _Not anymore._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naomi looked around the room and saw her regular seat was taken. But that was not enough to ruin her confident mood. The exam was going to start in a few minutes so she grabbed an empty seat close to the aisle and pulled out her pencils and calculator. She felt prepared after her lengthy evening of studying at the coffee shop. Effy had popped by in the morning and they smoked together. All her anxiety about passing was minimal to nonexistent. She felt good. The professor handed out the exams. She took one and passed the pile to the people on her right accordingly. As she flipped through the crisply printed pages, her confidence was assured. Her pencil danced across the paper with speed that intimidated and worried those beside her.

All her side-notes were fresh in her memory, until she came across a particularly hard problem - the very problem she had been studying when she met Emily. _FUCKING fuck. _She looked to the ceiling and tried to take a deep breath. Of course, all the emotions she had been avoiding rushed to her mind at the most inconvenient time. Her blinking accelerated as she tried not to cry - to not feel hurt. _Stop it, Naomi; you don't need to do this. Not now. Not now. Not now. Just finish this exam. Then you can cry. You can fucking cry a river. Just do not fuck up the one thing you're good at. _

Her small mental pep talk did little to make her stop. Instead, the anger and resentment she felt toward Emily for making her feel the bad emotions were what helped her finish the exam. _Couldn't have done worse than a B. _She packed her pencils, grabbed her bag, handed in her exam, and strode out of the room.

"Naomi!" A familiar throaty voice called out in the hallway from behind her, but Naomi kept walking. _Not a chance in hell. _But the voice was persistent, and now following her. "Naomi! Wait!"

"What, Emily?" Naomi was exuding all her upset feelings.

"I just want to talk." Emily was quiet but firm. She had been waiting for Naomi for twenty minutes. She had honestly thought the blonde was so smart that she would have finished faster. Emily had nearly had given up hope of finding Naomi because she was not sitting in her regular seat until Emily spotted Naomi when she started frequently glancing around the room throughout her exam.

"About what, Emily? What do you want from me?" Naomi was growing weak with little resistance to her emotions.

"There's just... there's something... someth-"

"Listen, Emily." Naomi cut her off in one final attempt to disassociate from her feelings. "I think I know what you're about to say, and that _something, _or you, as far as I'm concerned, are what caused me to nearly fail my exam today. I can't afford any distractions and _you're _the biggest distraction I've had so far."

"What!" Emily shouted in rage, "Are you shitting me?! I haven't seen you in two weeks. That's just about the dumbest thing you've ever said."

And then their previous conversations flashed back into her mind. Naomi could not help herself. "Yeah? Well _I _think _you're_ dumb."

"NO! YOU'RE DUMB." It was with that intense rush of emotions that Emily took the single step between them, backing Naomi into the wall, and for half a second, glanced down at pink lips. She saw Naomi's eyes flick down to her own - felt her exhale shakily in the silence that followed. "You're so... stupid," Emily whispered before pressing her lips lightly, questioningly to Naomi's. _Do you feel what I feel? _

**Author's Note: so that's two updates in one day! Hope you enjoyed. Review please.**


	8. Chapter 8: Turning Labels

**Author's Note: Oh my god, thank you so much for all the reviews and follows guys. I'm loving the way this story is going and the pace so far. And with that, ENJOY :)**

Chapter Eight: Turning Labels

Emily stepped back and noticed Naomi's eyes were still closed, lips slightly parted. She watched as the blonde eyebrows furrowed and her blue eyes looked at her full of unspoken words. "Emily..." Her voice was as soft as her lips had felt.

"I-I'm sorry. I just thou-" Emily began to apologize, flustered at what she expected to be rejection. She had to remove herself from the situation before she could be left more devastated than she had ever been. The kiss left her feeling so vulnerable. It was a risk worth taking until it fell through. Now she could not even foresee a friendship. _Fuck, what have I done? She probably hates me._

"Stop." Naomi shocked Emily. "We need to talk." Emily waited for her to say something. "Not here." She took Emily's hand firmly and tugged her down the corridor and through the exit.

"Naomi," Emily protested.

"No. Wait." Naomi took a hesitant Emily down the sidewalks, not even caring about the attention they were getting as two girls holding hands. It appeared as if Naomi were dragging a very confused and worried person from an outsider's view - perhaps a friend forcibly consoling another. But no one knew the fragile thoughts racing through Naomi's head as she was doing so. She honestly did not know where she was going; she was trying to kill time until she figured out what exactly it was that she wanted to tell Emily.

Emily was getting tired of the suspense, "Naomi, just say something already! I'm not following you forever," _even if I want to. _Emily stopped walking, forcing Naomi to stop as well.

Naomi realized she had to say something; she was not being fair. "Well, this is exactly where I wanted to take you." They were standing in front of the university's giant fountain. There was a statue of an angel wearing a graduate cap standing on one foot with water spouting out of its mouth. It was actually a traditional place where people asked their significant others out; Naomi realized this too. Her subconscious must have led her there because this was certainly not the cliché of a location she would have intentionally chosen. She wished that her subconscious would _also_ do the talking. _Maybe this won't be that hard_. "Emily..." _Uhhhh... fuck, what do I say? You look so cute right now. _

Emily waited, unable to read Naomi's facial expressions. "Naomi, say something - anything."

"You look so cute right now." _Fucking hell, anything but that._

Emily instantly blushed. "Thank you, but not _that. _You're supposed to tell me what's going on, in here." Emily reached up and touched Naomi's head gently. Naomi's eyes looked up and followed Emily's hand to her temple until it fell back to the shorter girl's side. Emily was slightly embarrassed once she realized how dumb that must have looked. She did not know that the physical contact had made Naomi's stomach summersault, in a potentially good way.

Naomi had no choice but to be honest. "I'm not sure."

"Is it good?"

"Mm... It's not bad."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I'm not gay." Naomi sighed and looked away.

"Nobody said you were," Emily stated, causing Naomi's eyes to shoot right back to looking at hers, challengingly.

"Are _you_ gay?"

Emily breathed in deeply then answered, "Yes. I'm gay. I like tits and fanny, rosy cheeks, soft lips, and cute bums. I like girls. I like kissing girls, I like touching girls; I like being with girls." Emily exhaled, relieved she had finally said to Naomi what she wanted to say out loud ever since the first time she had a crush on a girl, years ago. Now was the first time she had said it so blatantly to someone outside of her family.

Naomi's eyes widened and she bit back a smile. She blushed a little at the automatic thought of her and Emily doing all those things. "Tits and fanny, eh?" She covered her inappropriate thoughts with outward teasing.

Emily blushed again. It seems they were taking turns embarrassing each other, intentionally or not. "Yeah, and cute bums." They chuckled. "So what do you say?"

"What do I say to what?" Naomi smirked. She knew exactly what Emily was getting at but was being evasive for the sake of her own amusement.

"We don't have to label it or anything. I just thi-"

That was enough for Naomi. She took Emily by surprise, something Naomi noted to make a habit of, and kissed Emily before she could finish her sentence. After an electric moment, Naomi pulled back, trying to stop smiling like a silly little schoolgirl experiencing her first kiss. She had kissed loads of boys, and a few girls for dumb drinking games at parties, but this was so different. Emily's smile was practically a reflection of her own. "Okay," Naomi said.

"Okay?" Emily's pitch raised in excitement.

"Yeah. I think." Naomi still instinctually fought the commitment. She knew that was something she was going to have to work on.

Emily caught her. "You think?"

"Well, I've um, I've never dated a girl before."

"Me either, for the most part."

"Then how do you know you're gay?"

"Have you ever had chocolate covered crickets?"

"No."

"Would you eat a chocolate covered cricket?"

"God no, that's repulsive."

"But you haven't had one, so how would you know?"

"Touché, but boys aren't _all _bad. Like chocolate covered things, strawberries, good, and crickets, bad. It depends." Naomi shrugged.

"All the ones Katie's ever dated are disgusting."

"Well,_ I_ have better taste than your sister then." It took Naomi a moment to realize what she had just said.

"You most certainly do, Campbell." Emily smirked.

"Oh, alright, fine. That applies to my picking you too, I guess." Naomi stretched her words as if it were a hassle to admit the implied compliment. Naomi rolled her eyes playfully. Then she looked back down to Emily. They were only a few inches apart but Naomi was used to dating guys taller than herself. She kind of liked the new change, she thought. "So, Emily... what do we do now?"

"I can think of a few things..." Emily leaned in to kiss Naomi. Naomi closed her eyes and waited expectantly. An unusual amount of empty seconds passed before she finally realized she was not about to be kissed. She opened her eyes and pulled back to see Emily trying to withhold a laugh. Emily continued her sentence; "But I think a first date is in order."

Naomi scowled at Emily's tease. "You're a twat, you know that?"

"Mhm!" Emily smiled amusedly, knowing better than to take offense.

"Okay, so what exactly do you have in mind, shrimp? Hmm?"

Emily rolled her eyes at Naomi's name-calling and then quickly smiled with an idea. "Well, there's this..."

**Author's Note: Let me know your thoughts in the reviews! I think I nailed Naomi's noncommittal side. I'm going to be exploring a different interpretation of Emily's self-expression soon, but I think it suits her. We'll see what'chu guys think.**


	9. Chapter 9: Bow Tied

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. I've been quite busy between moving and skyping with the lady. But I finally busted this one out. I know Skins Fire had a shit ton of drama and we are all very upset with the way they wrote things, unfortunately, this chapter won't be very uplifting. It's rather dramatic, honestly. However, I do foresee plenty of soft mushy times in the future.**

Chapter Nine: Bow Tied

Emily was in her bedroom, lying on her bed wrapped in a towel. She was dreamily scrolling through the texts she and Naomi had been sending throughout the week. It felt too good to be true. They would be up late into the evening going back and forth between intellectual and trivial topics. They both had very busy schedules so they had not been able to physically meet up. It was okay though, because after counting down the days, it was finally Friday. Emily had finished all of her assignments so she could focus on enjoying their date.

"What are _you _smiling about?" Katie walked into Emily's room.

"What the fuck, Katie, don't you knock?" Emily practically threw her mobile across the room. She was not sure if she was ready to have the talk with Katie.

"Psh, I've seen you naked a million times, Em, we used to share a room together, 'member?"

"That's not the point, Katie. What do you want?"

"Jesus, I just came in to see how my little sister was doing."

Emily was annoyed by the fact that Katie always referred to her as little because they were only seconds apart. She was sure she was the stronger one between the two of them, younger or not. Emily let her anger dissipate because Katie had been making an extra effort to be a good sister since their last talk. _Maybe she'll react differently now. _"I have a date tonight." Emily could not stop the big smile from spreading across her face.

For a second Katie frowned but Emily did not notice. Emily saw her sister smiling back at her. "So what are you going to wear?" Katie knew fashion was enough to get herself excited. It was not that she was not happy for Emily but she was scared of who Emily was going on a date with. Ever since they were little she knew Emily was always different. It scared her to know that something could make them different when they were twins. She feared the day the difference would be openly acknowledged and would separate them forever.

Emily frowned, her excitement deflated. She had wanted Katie to ask "who?" but did not get that satisfaction. "Katie..." Emily's voice was hoarse the way it usually was when she was sad.

Katie sat down beside her sister on the bed. Emily was now sitting upright holding her towel up with one arm. "I know," Katie said and looked away. Katie's voice reflected her sister's in that it was also sad.

"What?" Emily was shocked. The beginnings of tears streamed down her face. She sniffled to try and stop them but it was no use.

"I know you're..." Katie took a deep breath. "I know that you're going on a date with a girl."

"What?" Emily was in complete shock. She had not prepared for this answer. For years she had thought of all the potential outcomes of her coming out to Katie would have but never had she thought of Katie being the one to tell _her _that she knew Emily was gay; definitely not with herself sitting on the bed in a towel, crying. She had expected for her family to completely disown her, the way they expressed their bigoted views so frequently. So to see this other side of her sister left Emily unsure of how to feel. She knew happiness would be the normal response but she had been so ready for it to go wrong. She was too shocked to feel appropriately within the moment.

"I've known that you don't like boys for years." Katie could not be direct and say the word "gay." She had played with the word on her tongue in privacy, preparing for this conversation and had never felt comfortable with it. She was trying not to cry, to stay strong for Emily. Deep down she knew Emily was gay and did not want to admit it. For so long she knew Emily was unhappy. She tried setting her sister up with so many boys but knew none of them would ever be able to make Emily any happier. Katie felt the responsibility to defend Emily, knowing that people that were gay had such harder lives, getting bullied or even committing suicide because of it. She thought maybe she had been so hard on Emily, growing up, to prepare Emily for the harsh world that she had ultimately forgotten the importance of being a supportive sister. "I'm sorry, Emily. I tried to protect you. I still love you."

Emily reached out her free arm and hugged her sister. She was full out sobbing. Her body trembled with each intake of air. Katie was also crying, but over feelings of past guilt. "I forgive you, Katie," Emily managed to say brokenly between breaths.

They stayed like that for a while before Katie pulled away. "Stop crying. We've got to get you ready for tonight." Katie smiled. Emily let out one small burst of happy tears at her sister's new happiness for her then took a deep breath and stopped crying. She washed her face and came out of her bathroom to find Katie in her closet. "How about this?" Katie was holding up a purple dress they worn, matching, to an old boyfriend of Katie's party.

"I actually had something else in mind." Emily bit her lip, smiling. She got down on her knees to pull out a box from beneath her bed. She put it on her bed and twisted the lock to open it.

Katie squinted her eyes, "there's not going to be some dildo in there or fanny magazines right? I don't need to see that." Katie feigned gagging.

"No." Emily rolled her eyes. Opening the box revealed a stack of photos at the very top. She took them out and set them on the bed, but Katie started flipping through them. "Careful, don't get your fingerprints on those."

"Oh be quiet, I know how to look at a photo." Emily watched as what seemed like her returned loving sister from many years ago took several seconds to a minute to stare at some of them. "These are really good, Emily."

"They're alright."

"Shutup. These are fucking better than alright. If you don't do something with these, I will." Katie was back to her normal, bitchy self but it was about doing something good, selflessly for Emily. "These belong in a gallery."

"You really think so?" Emily was still shy about her talent, even if it was her twin.

"Absolutely." Katie stopped at a picture of Freddie doing some tricks high up in the air, on his skateboard. "Wow, that's so cool. Who is this?"

Emily laughed. "That's Freddie."

"_That's _Freddie?" Katie looked like she was adjusting to a new idea of him. "What do you like about him anyway, isn't he just some stoner?" Her bitchy tone was not convincing.

"He's appreciates a decent joint, but he's so much _more _than that, Katie."

"Sure, that's what they all say."

Katie was obviously looking for Emily to elaborate. Emily could tell and decided there would be no harm in it. "He's an amazing artist with sketches that are a lot better than my photos. He's shows so much maturity and love for his autistic roommate. He has done some of the sickest skateboarding tricks I've ever seen. He's actually really intelligent but he doesn't talk about studies too much. I only know because JJ's told me about his exam scores when they've swapped. He's my best mate." Emily smiled.

"Cool." Katie nonchalantly put the picture aside. "So, what did you take the box out for?"

Beneath all the photos was exactly what Emily had been looking for. A satin red bowtie and a box were resting at the bottom of the wood.

"_Those?" _Katie looked at them confused. "Oh my god, are you one of _those _lesbians?" Emily glared at her. Katie sighed, "I _guess_ my fashion skills are amazing enough to work with whatever you throw at me."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naomi stared at her wardrobe. Getting dressed for the party with Effy had been different because she did not have the intention of impressing anyone. Now all she wanted to do was wear something that would grab and hold Emily's interest.

**5:42pm: Effy help meeee**

**Effy: 5:53pm: whats wrong**

**5:54pm: I can't decide what to wear.**

**Effy: 5:56pm: stubborn campbell has a d8?**

**6:00pm: Can I not just want to fucking look nice? **

**Effy: 6:03pm: I red tht as I just want to fk, haha**

**6:05pm: Stop that.**

**Effy: 6:08pm: so u r thinkin abt it**

**6:10pm: I am not talking about it.**

**Effy: 6:13: hve u dreamd abt her yet?**

**6:15pm: Once, now will you please shut the fuck up and help me?**

**Effy: 6:18pm: blue dress**

Naomi tossed her phone onto her bed. Shivering as water from her hair dripped down her naked body, she flipped through her clothes. There was one dress she had never found the right occasion for, but it seemed tonight was the night. She took it off the hanger and held it up to her body in the mirror. _Wow. _

The blue of the dress matched her eye color perfectly. The dress had actually been a gift from her mother's boyfriend, Kieran, when he moved in, as a sort of peace offering. He definitely did not pick it out, seeing as he had no fashion sense whatsoever, not that he gave a fuck; he had spent a day bitterly whining as Gina had suggested they go together. Naomi was not particularly thankful for the dress specifically because such a fancy dress seemed impractical, but she appreciated the kind gesture in general.

Once she slipped it on, she saw the bottom flow perfectly a few inches above her knees. It was at just the right length for her height and long legs. The top of the dress was beautiful and sexy, showing a glimpse of her cleavage and leaving her arms and collarbones on display. She smiled excitedly at her reflection, flattening the visible creases until the fabric was smooth and tight across her body. All she had left to do was style her hair and do her makeup before she would be ready.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The club was near the center of the university campus - the girls lived on opposite ends of it. They agreed to meet up at the club, where they would join the rest of their friends.

Naomi had arrived first. Naomi was still incredibly nervous, despite having hung out with Emily alone a few times already, because this was officially the first date. _What if she doesn't like my dress? What if I am a terrible dancer? What if she doesn't show up? What if she changed her mind? _The longer she stood there, the worse her anxiety grew. Quickly, she lit a fag from the pocket of her jacket and exhaled stress in a cloud of smoke. She watched as groups and couples passed her by, entering and exiting the nightclub. She could feel the bass reverberate through the wall she leaned against.

Naomi was admiring the beauty of a woman in a fitted white button up shirt, black vest, shiny belt, and black skinny jeans. Long, brightly dyed red hair that matched the woman's red bowtie was so eye-catching and attractive. _Who am I kidding? I'm totally attracted to girls... _ She had never seen a woman pull off being dressed masculine while looking so femininely gorgeous and sexy. Naomi then noticed Katie and some blonde girl that she definitely did not recognize, were accompanying the girl she had been checking out. _Wait, Emily? Holy fucking shit. Wow... _Naomi was blatantly staring at Emily as the group walked in her direction. Only once they were standing right in front of her did she manage to take her eyes off Emily's body and make eye contact with the loveliest pair of brown eyes surrounded by a perfect amount of makeup she had ever seen.

"You can fucking close your mouth now." Katie said but the girls disregarded her comment. She did not like the idea of anyone gawking at her baby sister.

"You look stunning." Emily was the first to say something as she gave a once-over of Naomi's body. She had paused between each word for emphasis.

Naomi would have complimented Emily if she were able to stop thinking the sexual urges rushing to her mind. Katie awkwardly cleared her through loudly enough that Naomi snapped out of it; "Not so bad yourself, Fitch-errr, Emily." She had to correct herself because she was now in the presence of two Fitches. _There you go. Calm. Cool. Collected. _

"Let's go inside yeah, it's fucking freezing out." Katie was still uncomfortable with her sister openly checking out and flirting with a woman. She just had to direct her feelings elsewhere for the rest of the evening.

Emily raised an eyebrow in shock at her sister's move on her friend but was ultimately glad she had invited them. "Look there's Thomas!" Panda exclaimed as she bubbly followed after Katie. Thomas was standing by the front door waving them in, completely skipping all the irritated people in the line.

"Panda! I am so glad to see you. These are your friends?"

"Mhm! Aren't they wonderful?" she exclaimed.

"Come inside." Thomas opened the door for them, waving to one of his coworkers to temporarily take his place. Everyone shuffled through the entryway. Their eyes adjusted to the colorful flashing lights that were dancing around the room and the occasional strobe flashes. The music was significantly louder than what they had expected from outside of the club. It was also much warmer inside, but fortunately it wasn't overcrowded; they could walk through groups of people without completely shoving them over. He took them to the cash register and opened a drawer, pulling out a bunch of wristbands. "VIP. Free drinks tonight for you guys." Thomas smiled as everyone cheered. "I will find you later tonight, Panda. For now I must work."

"Alright!" Panda smiled dreamily at him before she was being dragged away to the bar.

Emily was looking around the club from where they were standing. Her height was making it a bit difficult to see very much though. Naomi noticed and hesitated to ask, "Are you... looking for someone?" She was nervous that Emily was checking other girls out, unsatisfied with her date.

"I invited JJ and Freddie, they said they're already inside." Emily pulled out her mobile. But just as she was about to text Freddie asking where he was she felt arms wrap around her shoulders.

"Found you!" Emily grabbed Freddies hands and hugged him. She hugged JJ too, who was standing beside him. Naomi bit her lip and looked around wondering if she was just going to feel out of place tonight.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it! JJ are you alright?" Emily realized a nightclub was not exactly JJ's place of comfort.

Freddie threw his arm over JJ's shoulder. "JJ's all drugged up, he should be fine." They both looked at JJ who was currently staring at something further down the bar. "JJ? JJ!"

"Sorry." JJ started blushing heavily.

"Oh my god, were you checking a girl out?!" Emily teased and he blushed grew hotter.

"Quite possibly."

"You should go say something to her," Emily encouraged.

"Do it!" Freddie shouted over the music.

"I guess I have a fifty-fifty chance." He fixed his sweatshirt as if it actually made a difference to his appearance and was about to walk away from the group before Emily tugged his arm.

"Wait! You guys meet Naomi. She's... my date tonight." Emily smiled at Naomi who gave a small wave and tightly pressed her lips together.

"Hi."

"Yeah... we met." Freddie feigned excitement to the best of his ability. It was not that he had anything against Naomi personally. He frowned for a second when Emily let go of him from their hug and wrapped her arms around Naomi's waist. Naomi's grumpiness almost instantly faded away; all that remained were her anxieties.

"You look like you could use a drink." Emily looked up to Naomi's eyes questioningly. She knew something was a bit off but could not figure out what it was.

"Yeah."

Emily flagged the bartender down and ordered. "Tequila shots all around, please." Katie, Panda, Freddie, Emily, and Naomi each grabbed a shot and a lime wedge off the tray.

"To a good night," Emily said before everyone swallowed the first round.

"I need some boys." Katie sighed and glanced at Freddie before adding, "Someone sexy better buy me a drink."

"But Katie, you have a free drinks pass," Emily pointed out.

"That's not the fucking point." Katie walked away from the group, both twins rolling their eyes at each other.

"Charming." Naomi mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't say anything." Naomi looked around instead of at Emily.

The obvious tension was making the Panda and Freddie uncomfortable. "I'm going to go check on JJ." Freddie excused himself.

"It's so beautiful." Panda was staring at the dance floor. "So many colors and people; I love it." It was clear what she wanted to do at that moment.

"Want to dance, Naomi?" Emily suggested, on the same boat as Panda.

"Dancing isn't really my thing." Naomi shrugged.

"Oh come on... please?" Emily made puppy eyes.

"No, Emily. I don't want to." She said it far too seriously for anyone uninterested in pissing her off to press further.

"Fine." Emily was upset by how terrible the date was going. Sure, they had instantly felt attracted to each other when they saw each other outside, but things went downhill on the inside.

Naomi sighed, "Sorry. Why don't you dance with Panda? I'll find you later. I just need a fag."

"Okay." Emily wanted to believe that Naomi taking a smoke would solve everything but she could not. Still, she allowed her hand to be grabbed by someone other than Naomi, as Panda enthusiastically took her to the dance floor.

"Vodka and tonic," Naomi ordered as soon as they left. She chugged down the contents of the glass quickly. She enjoyed the slight distraction of the burn down her throat. What she did not expect was the feeling of slim fingers on her shoulder. "Get the fuck off, tosser-oh, Eff. What are you doing here?"

Effy raised an eyebrow. "Clubbing. Having a good time. Same as everyone else in this room, aside from _you_," she added pointedly.

"Yeah, I think I fucking know that."

Effy rolled her eyes and grabbed Naomi by the hand. She dragged her out of the club to the back door, the smokers patio. "What the fuck is your problem, Naomi?"

"Nothing."

"Naomi..." Effy pressed as she lit her and Naomi's fags.

"Look, it's not fucking rare that someone just doesn't like dancing, okay?!"

"You realize someone else is probably grinding with your date right now."

"I fucking know that." Naomi grimaced.

"And doesn't that bother you?"

"Obviously."

"So... why aren't you out there?" Effy was relentless.

Naomi sighed. "I can't dance."

"So you're throwing a fucking tantrum?"

"I am _not. _I'm awkward and lanky and she's all outgoing and 's just-I don't want to disappoint her. "

"And you aren't right now?"

"For fuck's sake, do you always have to be right?" Naomi stubbed her cigarette and pulled open the door. Just as it was about to close Naomi stopped it and poked her head out. "Thanks, Eff."

Effy smiled. "Go get her."

With that Effy returned to smoking and Naomi began hunting down "her girl" through the thickness of the crowd. The darkness and strobe lights were slightly disorienting but she managed to spot one red haired girl. _Thank fuck, she dyed it, or I'd have never found her. _What bothered her was seeing some stranger wrapped around Emily's body, hands on hips and head intently close to her neck. "Mind if I cut in?"

The other girl was wearing a cut up t-shirt, jean vest, and some leather pants. "Hell yeah, I do. Fuck off."

"You fuck off." Naomi glared and just as she thought she was about to slap the girl, Emily cut in.

"Sorry, you're an alright dancer but that's my date." Emily took Naomi's hand and walked them somewhere else on the dancefloor. They found Panda and Freddie, along with JJ and some other girl, different from the one he had pursued at the bar. Then Emily noticed that Katie was grinding against Freddie who seemed to be enjoying himself, even if clubbing was a bit intense for his stoner attitude.

Naomi took Emily by the hand to stop her from moving, and make her pay attention. "Emily, I have a confession."

"Yeah?" She had to shout over the music.

"I don't know how to dance."

"What?"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DANCE." Naomi blushed.

Emily chuckled. "I heard you, I was just surprised."

"Fucking great. Laughing at me." Naomi was about to walk away. She could not take being embarrassed by someone she felt so naturally compelled to impress.

"Oh stop it, Naomi. You're being ridiculous." Emily turned around, grabbed Naomi's hands, and put them on her hips. "Here, let me show you how." She started rotating her hips slowly and it was making Naomi feel light-headed. They were pressed together completely. "Like this." Naomi followed the rhythm of the shorter girl's hips. Her stomach nearly dropped to her feet when Emily did a trick that involved going down and coming back up facing her. This time she had her leg between Naomi's and Naomi's leg between hers as they continued grinding.

"Fuck, you're amazing." Naomi mumbled.

"Mm?" Emily said into her ear.

"I said, fuck, you're amazing," Naomi repeated, bending down to Emily's ear.

"Kiss me," Emily said and pulled her face away from the side of Naomi's face. She wrapped her arms around the back of Naomi's neck and tighter and tighter as Naomi bent lower.

Their lips crashed together. Naomi had felt the tension build ever since they started dancing-no-ever since she saw Emily's new hairstyle. She felt Emily take her bottom lip between her soft lips and suck gently before releasing it. "Fuck." Naomi whispered when they stopped to breathe.

Suddenly a group of males started wolf-whistling. They had surrounded Emily and Naomi. "DO IT AGAIN!" "HEY LADIES, HOW ABOUT A THREESOME?" "FUCKING DYKES!" The guys were shouting all sorts of atrocities in their direction. Naomi panicked. She felt her heart racing. She was not a dyke. She was not inrerested in a threesome. And she definitely was not interested in kissing Emily for the benefit of everyone else.

She broke away from Emily despite the plea after her, "Naomi! Please! Naomi, wait!"

Some guy howled and laughed at them. Naomi turned around briefly as she was shuffling away to see Emily punch a guy. Naomi could not bear to see what happened next. She ran as fast as she could out the door and took a taxi to the first place that she thought she could find comfort.

**Author's Note: SO let me know in the reviews your favorite lines, favorite parts, whatever you wish. I greatly appreciate it, thanks. Much love, Shira.**


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